ReCycle
by Imperial-sama
Summary: Yao and Kiku. Android and master. One day Kiku was abducted while Yao was left to rust in the snow. Years later, Yao is revived and determined to retrieve his master at any cost. However, with a tyrannical organization in power, Yao's mission is easier said than done. Mainly China/Japan, also has South Korea/Hong Kong
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my first story, _Re_Cycle_! The story will mostly have ChinaxJapan with some South KoreaxHong Kong on the side and there will be yaoi. So, if you do not like yaoi, do not read this story . This story was inspired by the song _Re_Cycle _by the vocaloid Luka. =) If you haven't heard of that song, go listen to it now, it's awesome. ****So, this is the prologue and it won't be very long, but I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Any way, I hope you all enjoy! **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia, if I did...well, let's just say homophobes would be suing me. There would be a lot more yaoi. Also, the song that this story was inspired by, _Re_Cycle, _is not owned by me either.**

Re_cycle

Snow fell upon the rooftops, like wintry tears on the battle that had just taken place. One of the combatants was leaning against a wall, a wailing child at his side. A black substance was dripping out of the combatant's mouth, an android's version of blood. The same black substance stained the android's shirt and the snow around him.

The combatant's name was Yao Wang. He knew he had lost against his opponents, five enemy androids armed with various weapons. Heavy wounds testified to his enemies' triumph. One of his legs was ripped off and thrown to the side and his clothes were ripped from his previous struggle. Oil was all around him, and worst of all, he had _failed_.

He had failed to protect his master.

Yao's master was the boy crying by his side, a boy of only fourteen years by the name of Kiku Honda. His parents were long since dead, and Yao was the only one he had left. His parents had left their android butler to Kiku in their wills, hoping he would be able to protect the boy and for a while, Yao had fulfilled those expectations. Yao faithfully stood by Kiku's side, helping him through the deaths of his parents and they built a decent life together with the inheritance also left to Kiku from his parents. Soon, Yao and Kiku were inseparable, well, that is until now.

Kiku's faithful android knew that his body was rusting and his strength was slowly disintegrating, after this one fight, he could barely move. Never had Yao felt so weak and worthless. He reached up to try to wipe away the steady stream of tears falling down his master's face, but Kiku's tears just kept rolling. He clung to Yao, sobbing.

"Come on, Yao-kun...you have to get up...please get up."

Yao gently stroked Kiku's hair, trying to comfort the boy. He couldn't do much at this point, hell, Yao couldn't even move his lips to speak. His left arm seemed to be the only part of his body working. Yao wanted to tell Kiku not to cry, because everything would be repaired soon. Yao was an android, he could be rewound many times and he would not rest until he and Kiku were together again.

One of the androids who had defeated Yao, one with blonde hair and unbelievably bushy eyebrows, walked up and took Kiku by the arm, seizing the boy and dragging him away. Yao tried to hang on to Kiku, but he was far too weak to hold on for long. He could do nothing as his master was taken away from him. Yao's arm fell limply to his side as he watched Kiku being dragged away, kicking and screaming. Only one thought went through Yao's mind.

_'I will get him back.'_

And with that final thought, Yao's world became black.

**And...that's it for the prologue. I'll post the first real chapter as soon as I can and hopefully, it'll be much longer... In an unrelated note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! It's Fourth of July today =) Anyway, please review!**


	2. Chapter 1: Road to Revival

**Hello, hello! Welcome to the first real chapter of Re_Cycle! I figured since I already had this one typed up, I should post it (after reading it over of course). I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**EDIT: Doh! Disclaimer... **

**DISCLAIMER: The awesomeness of Hetalia is not owned by me...same thing goes for Vocaloid.**

Chapter 1: Road to Revival

**~Five Years Later~**

"Hey, Kaoru! Come over here for a second!" a young woman shouted, calling over her companion.

"What is it, Mei?" A young man with short, brown hair asked, walking over.

The girl, now known as Mei, pointed to a deserted android. He looked like he'd been through hell. Oil was everywhere around him, his clothes were torn, and one of his limbs was torn off.

"God, who the hell would leave an android like this?" Kaoru gasped.

Mei only shrugged. "No idea, but it looks like he's been through one bloody feud. Do you think master will be able to help him?"

Kaoru examined the fallen android, quirking an eyebrow. "Possibly, but from the looks of it, this guy'll need a new hard drive, which means new programing and everything."

"Here, let's try to help him...he is a dude, right?" Mei asked, looking at the android's long hair. She hadn't noticed it before, and now Mei suspected the unknown android was a female.

"Looks like a guy to me." Kaoru answered, pointing at the android's chest. "Oh well, let's bring him back to the lab and see if master can help him."

"All right. I'll get his leg and you can get the rest."

"On it." Kaoru said, already picking the body up and slinging it over his shoulder. Mei picked up the fallen leg, examining it.

"My god..." she whispered. "He might need a new leg too."

"He'll probably need a lot of new parts, now let's go back."

Mei nodded and followed Kaoru back to their home.

"Hm...interesting, very interesting." a woman with long, black hair tied into a ponytail whispered, examining the android Mei and Kaoru found.

"What is it, master?" Kaoru queried.

The woman sighed. "I thought I told you not to call me that. Just call me Viet, okay?"

"Yes mas- I mean, Viet." Kaoru said, the woman's name sounded foreign on his lips.

"But to answer your question, this unit seems to be an older android...one of the first designs of the generation. It's amazing that this one survived."

"What model is it?" Mei questioned, poking the android, which was now laying down on an iron table.

"I'm not sure...I'll need to research his data to know for sure...but from the looks of it, he may be a BEI-1."

"A what now?" Mei asked, puzzled.

"A BEI-1. It's an older model from Beijing...but China stopped making them after newer models were created. I thought most of these were destroyed." Viet mumbled the last part, however, Mei still heard her.

"Why would they need to destroy them?" Mei questioned.

"Because, these robots were primarily made for protection. Meaning, they would protect one master, or perhaps even a full family under the guise of a butler or maid. However, some of these models took their jobs too far and stated to kill anyone who got close to their masters...or anyone they considered a threat. The manufacturers had to recall the models and destroy them." Kaoru answered simply, twirling a piece of his hair. He had researched many models over the years out of pure curiosity. Although he mostly focused on models from Asia.

"So how do we know this one won't try to kill us?" Mei asked, now a little alarmed.

"I doubt it...by now he's probably forgotten all about his former master." Viet said. "It'll take me all night, but I think I can have him up and running again by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe he can help us."

"Help us against Europa?" Kaoru asked.

Viet nodded. "Possibly, he was originally made for protection, so he should know how to fight."

"Hm..." Mei bit her lip, suddenly she had a bad feeling about letting this new android into their home. Kaoru put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, if master says he's safe, then she's probably right." he whispered.

Mei thought for a moment, but nodded. There was nothing she could do about it now, she would just have to wait until tomorrow.

"Now why don't you two go and relax for a little bit?" Viet suggested, smiling.

Kaoru nodded, taking Mei's hand and leading her out of the room. Viet smiled and turned back to her work.

Meanwhile, Kaoru and Mei went back to their room, which they shared with one other unit, a Korean one named Im Yong Soo. Kaoru didn't want to see Yong Soo at the moment, but he thought the Korean unit should at least _know_ about the new unit they found.

"Hey, Yong Soo, we have some news for you." Kaoru announced, entering the room with Mei.

Said Korean unit jumped up from his bed and practically glomped Kaoru, almost knocking him over.

"There's my 여자 !" Yong Soo greeted.

"Get off of me, and I'm not your wife!" Kaoru fumed, trying to push his friend off of him.

Mei giggled. Yong Soo would probably never change. Ever since he met Kaoru, he had been calling the Chinese android his wife and claiming they would get married someday.

"Oh come on, Kaoru, we all know you want to marry Yong Soo." Mei teased.

"N-no I don't! He just randomly gropes me!" Kaoru protested, blushing.

"Oh come on, Kaoru, I'd make a great husband." Yong Soo pouted. "I'd take care of you and everything!"

"Oh shut up! Look, Mei and I have some news for you: we might be getting a new addition to our family. We found an abandoned unit today, and master is fixing him right now, so we'll probably get to meet him tomorrow." Kaoru said, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, cool! We get another brother!" Yong Soo beamed, but added: "But no matter how cute he is, you'll always be my wife."

"Damn it, Yong Soo!" Kaoru cursed.

Mei giggled and laid down on her bed, some things would never change. She blocked out Kaoru and Yong Soo's argument and thought about the Chinese unit she and Kaoru found. Kaoru said that this unit had the potential to kill someone.

Could he really be trusted?

**...Was that chapter predictable? I hope not. Oh well! Ha ha, I bet you can't guess who the android is. JK, I bet lots of you know already. But you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out for sure! I think the plot bunnies for this story are bouncing around in my head at the moment and giving me a headache.**

**Oh yeah! Just so you guys don't get confused, Mei is Taiwan, Yong Soo is South Korea, Viet is Vietnam, and Kaoru is Hong Kong (apparently that's a fanon name for him.) And all the characters will be called by their human names. So, for example, China will be called Yao. Also, Mei, Kaoru, and Yong Soo are all androids. Viet is the only human here at the moment.**

**여자- Wife in Korean (I used Bing translator...so sorry if I messed up your language)**

**So, I think that's all I need to say...See you next time and remember to review!**


	3. Chapter 2: Rebirth

**Hello, world! Welcome to the second chapter of Re_Cycle! Before the story starts up, I just wanted to thank all of the lovely people who reviewed, added my story to their story alert, or added my story to their favorites list! =) You all made my day! I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

**EDIT: . How could I forget the disclaimer? **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia. I don't even own any pie right now.**

Chapter 2: Rebirth

_Retrieving data...63%_

"Well, this took a little longer then expected." Viet said, a sheepish smile on her face. Currently, she, Mei, Yong Soo, and Kaoru were waiting for the new unit's old data to be retrieved as he was being rebooted. Although Viet estimated the Chinese android would be ready by the afternoon, the process took longer then expected and it was now evening. Everyone was crowded around an iron table hooked up to numerous wires and cords stemming from a computer, waiting for the new member of their family to be revived.

"What took him so long to be rebooted?" Yong Soo asked, trying to start conversation.

"Well, he had a lot of data, meaning he had plenty of memories. He must have lived for a long time...but while I was rebooting him and stabilizing his system, I ran into a few complications..."

"Complications as in...?" Kaoru asked.

"There were quite a few bugs in his system. Although I eradicated most of them, there were a couple I couldn't get rid of...and on top of that, I think I accidentally messed up his speech patterns. He also needed some new parts, like some new wires so I could connect his detached leg to his body." Viet replied, nervously scratching the back of her head.

"Well, could those bugs get us killed?" Mei asked, remembering her worries from the night before.

"I doubt it...a majority of the bugs seemed minor. They won't do much harm and there were no deadly viruses." Viet said, trying to calm Mei down. Said android just bit her lip, still thinking about everything that could go wrong. She looked at the computer screen.

_Retrieving data...85%_

"I wonder what our new bro is going to be like.." Yong Soo mused.

"Hopefully not groping everyone like you..." Kaoru said, rolling his eyes.

"But Kaoru, I only touch you!" Yong Soo pouted, moving into to grab Kaoru's "breasts".

"Don't you even dare." Kaoru said, glaring and moving away from the Korean unit.

"Aw..."

"Yong Soo, keep your hands to yourself, Kaoru doesn't want you touching his chest. Also, I don't want you groping this new unit either." Viet scolded.

"Yes Viet.."

Viet smiled. "Good."

_Beep._

Immediately, all eyes turned toward the computer screen, which read:

_Data Retrieved 100%_

"Well, it's time to meet this new unit!" Viet said, clapping her hands once. As if on cue, the new android's eyes shot open, blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light. He sat up slowly, carefully examining the room before focusing on the other people occupying the room.

"Um...who are you-aru?" he finally asked.

Yong Soo was the first to answer.

"Hiya, bro! I'm Im Yong Soo, but you can just call me Yong Soo! I'm your older brother!" he said, grinning. Kaoru sighed, introducing himself next.

"Don't mind him, he's always hyper active. I'm Kaoru, it's nice to meet you."

"My name is Mei, I'm from Taiwan!" Mei piped in.

"And you may call me Viet. Now tell us, what is your name?"

"I...I'm Yao Wang-aru..." the Chinese android said.

"It's nice to meet you, Yao and we're happy to have you with us." Viet said, smiling warmly.

"Oh..thanks-aru..."

"Well, I'll let all of you get acquainted. I'll go get you some new clothes, Yao. Your old clothes are all ripped up." and with those words, Viet left the room. Yao looked at all of the androids, observing them all individually. Mei was wearing a pink, long sleeved shirt with a white skirt and Yong Soo was wearing a hanbok of some kind. In Yao's eyes, Kaoru was the only one with normal looking clothes, a red long sleeved shirt with black pants. However, he didn't talk to any of them.

There was only one person on his mind right now, and that was Kiku. Now that he was running again, he would find the androids that ambushed him and retrieve his master. But...what year was it?

"Um..is something on your mind, Yao?" Mei asked timidly.

Yao looked over at her, blinking a little bit.

"Yeah, what year is it-aru?"

"It's 2310."

Yao cursed under his breath. It had been five years since he last saw Kiku and there was no telling what those damn androids could've done to him. Yao bit his lip, he didn't want his master to be tortured to death by the time he found him. But, where else could he go? Now thinking about the situation, he realized he had absolutely no leads to the whereabouts of his master. He could go out into the world again, but then there was a chance he would be ambushed again...or he could stay here and be safe. Yao shook his head, how could he think about being safe when Kiku was in danger? He didn't know what to do. While Yao was pondering, Viet returned bearing new clothes for him, a dark green army uniform with a red armband.

"Sorry this is all we have...maybe sometime we can all go shopping for some new clothes." she said, not noticing the atmosphere. She placed the clothes on Yao's lap, stepping back before asking another question.

"By the way, what weapon are you accustomed to fighting with?"

Yao thought for a moment, had he ever used a weapon? He used a sword a few times, but very rarely.

"Nothing-aru. Martial arts has always been my weapon." he answered while pulling the shirt over his head.

"Hm..that's a little troublesome. You'll need a weapon if you're going to fight Europa with us." Viet said.

Yao's eyes widened. "Wait, I never said I'd fight anyone-aru!"

"Oh...I'm sorry...I never asked you what you wanted to do." Viet said, her eyes moving toward the ground.

"I"m sorry-aru. But I can't fight people without reason." Yao said, turning away.

"We'll give you a reason then." Kaoru suddenly said, stepping forward.

"Kaoru-" Mei tried to stop the other Chinese unit, but she was cut off.

"Europa is a terrible organization, one that kidnaps people to create a work force and to create fundings." Kaoru continued, a sudden rage visible in his eyes.

"Why haven't the authorities stopped them then-aru?" Yao asked, tone indifferent as he pulled the dark green pants on.

"Because, the organization has become too damn powerful! The authorities are useless anyway, they're too weak to do anything! They might capture one or two of the workers from Europa, but it's up to underground organizations like ours to try to restore power to the right people." Kaoru was shaking with anger, glaring at Yao. Mei tried to lay a hand on Kaoru's shoulder, but he only shoved her hand away.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped. Mei looked down, backing away a little bit.

"Those _bastards_ have been in the business of human trafficking for years! They have stolen countless numbers of people from Asia, all to create a traumatized workforce and gain some cash. Hell, they probably have branches in at least seven countries!"

_'Human trafficking...?'_ Yao thought, quirking an eyebrow. Now that got his attention.

"If they're such a large company, why would they need to collect workers from Asia-aru? Why don't they just hire workers from their country?" he asked.

"Do I need to spell it out for you? Cheap Labor!" Kaoru practically groaned. "And if you want to let people like that continue to rule then...then...YOU'RE WORSE THEN THEM!" he yelled the last part before being dragged away by Yong Soo.

"Come on, bro. I think someone else should tell Yao about Europa." he said, dragging Kaoru outside.

"LET ME GO!" Kaoru yelled, struggling against Yong Soo with little success. After a few moments, he and Yong Soo were out of the room, although Yao could still hear some of Kaoru's yelling from down the hall. Viet stepped forward.

"Sorry about that, Kaoru has a deep hatred for Europa. I guess I should tell you about it." She said.

"I-I'll go check on Kaoru and Yong Soo." Mei said, making a quick exit. Viet only sighed.

"Forgive them, Europa is a sensitive subject for all of them." she said.

"It's fine-aru. Now, what exactly is Europa?" Yao asked, this company could be a lead for him.

"Europa was originally a company for making robotics along with another company called A.S.I.A. At first, the two were partners and they built technology together. But, for some reason tensions between the two companies rose and they split up. People suspected the leaders had conflicting opinions. So, for a while, the two worked separately, but things only got worse when Europa started to build weapons, while A.S.I.A stayed with robotics...for a while anyway. Soon, both companies started to create massive weapons in order to compete with each other." Viet started.

Yao listened intently, A.S.I.A sounded familiar...could that be the company that made him? He waited for Viet to continue.

"Well, A.S.I.A had the terrible idea of combining the two components, androids and weapons, and so began a new era of destruction. In a matter of years, no, _months_, everyone was practically selling their own limbs to get a battle android for protection. Europa and A.S.I.A were making millions of dollars a year off of the paranoia of regular people, but they still weren't satisfied."

"Weren't satisfied with what-aru?"

"They weren't satisfied with having another powerful company in their way. Both of their leaders were greedy bastards, and as a result, Europa saw A.S.I.A as a threat to business and vise versa. So, they started an all out sale war...against each other. It seemed like it could go on forever, until one day, the C.E.O of A.S.I.A mysteriously ended up dead. Everyone saw the leader of Europa, Borislav Braginski, as the culprit. In fact, he was the first person the authorities investigated. However, there was no evidence could prove he was guilty and he was set free. Without the C.E.O, A.S.I.A eventually fell apart and broke into smaller, underground companies. As you've heard from Kaoru, Europa has become corrupt and is now kidnapping people to work for them and the police cannot do anything about it because of the power Europa now has. Now smaller groups of rebels have to stop them."

"But how will we stop them-aru? They could smash our tiny groups."

"The same way A.S.I.A fell apart, we'll have to kill their leader. There's no other way."

"I see." Yao whispered. So far, everything about this company seemed like a lead. If they used human trafficking to gain workers, Kiku could've been taken to be a worker...but Kaoru also said something about profits too...Kiku had money. He could've been taken for either reason, that is, if Europa was the reason for Kiku's kidnapping. He needed to ask Viet a question.

"Tell me-aru. Does this organization make robots with blonde hair and bushy eyebrows?" That was the last memory Yao had of the group of androids who had attacked him and Kiku all those years ago.

"Hm...blonde hair, I'm not to sure about. However, there's only one type of android with bushy eyebrows I know of: a LON-4. That's an older unit from London, in England."

"Does that country have a relationship with Europa-aru?"

"Well, I should think it does. That's where it started."

Yao thought for a moment. This organization, Europa, seemed like the perfect lead. It had everything, a motive for stealing Kiku, the ability to create powerful battle robots, power, hell, it even created the same type of unit Yao last saw before he shut down.

"I'll stay and help you fight them-aru." Yao finally said.

Viet gasped and then smiled warmly.

"Thank you. Perhaps with your help we can finally shut down that terrible company once and for all." Yao only nodded.

'_Kiku...wait for me. I'll find you soon.'_ Yao thought.

**And...that's a wrap for this chapter! I hope I didn't confuse you all with the origins of Europa...if any part was confusing, PM me or if you don't have an account, leave a review with your question and I'll do my best to answer it =) **

**Also, About Viet messing up Yao's speech patterns: The idea was before Viet rebooted him, Yao didn't say -aru after every sentence. So, that is how Viet messed with Yao's speech...by making him say -aru after everything...**

**Anyhoo, I hope this chapter was long enough and I will get started on chapter 3 as soon as possible! But..I should do some summer homework today... Sigh...curse you, honors. **

**Any way, remember to review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Confessions and Sneak Attacks

**Hello, hello! How goes everything? I finally got this chapter written and edited and I got part of my summer home work done~ Happy day! Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed, added this story to their favorites list, or added my story to their alerts! You all make me happy! Starfish REALLY LOVES YOU! Haha, Charlie the Unicorn reference.**

**Now for the chapter: In this segment of _Re_Cycle,_ The reason for Kaoru's Outburst! Slight yaoi! Possible OOCness! And...Yong Soo being...Yong Soo. **

Text- Regular Text. Present Tense. Plain.

"Text"- Talking.

'_Text'- _Thoughts

**~Text~ **- Er...I usually use this so I can skip to the next day or something...the words in bold will explain it.

_Text- _If a bunch of stuff is all in Italic, it's a flashback.

**DISCLAIMER: I. Own. NOTHING! ...but I do have some cake in the fridge. **

Chapter 3: Confessions and Sneak Attacks

_"Yao-kun, why did they have to die?" a ten year old Kiku asked, looking up at Yao. The two were in a graveyard, staring at two graves lined with flowers...the graves of Kiku's parents._

_"I'm not sure, Kiku. But I'm sure they're in a better place now and they're watching over you." Yao replied, putting his hands on Kiku's shoulders._

_"B-but they left me..." Kiku said, beginning to weep._

_"Shh...don't cry. It will be alright, I'll protect you from now on." Yao whispered, now wrapping his arms around his young master. "Nothing will harm you while I am running."_

_Kiku just continued to sob, not uttering a word._

* * *

><p>Yao's eyes shot open, interrupting his sleep mode. He looked around himself and saw that he was in a bedroom with Mei, Yong Soo, and a mass of blankets he assumed to be Kaoru. From the two he could see, Mei and Yong Soo, Yao assumed they were all in sleep mode. He sighed and sat up. How on earth did he get here in the first place? All he remembered was telling Viet he would stay with them...perhaps his system just automatically shut down for the night? He shrugged, he was wide awake now.<p>

Yao slowly got out of his bed, being careful not to wake any of the others. He quickly slipped out of the room and started walking down the hall. That dream he had was a memory from when Kiku's parents died. They had just held a memorial service, both Yao and Kiku being the only ones there other then a priest. Long after the priest had left, Yao's young master was still weeping and it was that day Yao swore he would protect Kiku with his life.

'_Tch. Some guardian I was-aru.'_ the Chinese android thought bitterly, arriving in the room he was revived in. He flicked the lights on, examining the room. Nothing seemed out of place, there was still the computer with various wires and cables connected to it along with the iron table Yao was laying on when he was rebooted. He walked over to a desk littered with numerous graphs and charts, taking a seat by it. Looking at some of the graphs, Yao saw most of them were blue prints of older android models.

_'Hm...this must be Viet's work desk-aru.'_

Yao only shrugged, he probably shouldn't mess with Viet's work. He leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. Part of him hoped that this Europa organization had Kiku, so he would be closer to finding him. However, another part of him hoped Kiku wasn't with Europa, from what everyone said about it, it sounded horrible. Yao didn't want Kiku to have to suffer through hard labor...

"Can't sleep either, huh?" a voice said.

Yao jumped up, startled. His head immediately snapped turned toward the source of the voice: Kaoru.

"No-aru. I guess you are unable to sleep as well?" Yao asked, crossing his arms.

"Nope. Terrible memories won't let me." Kaoru replied, his voice emotionless.

"Same. Why don't you sit down-aru? Talking will help with boredom."

"...Very well. So are you staying with us now?" Kaoru asked, starting conversation.

"Yes-aru. Europa may be responsible for a tragedy in my life."

"Hm? What tragedy are you talking about?"

"Oh, just the death of someone close to me." Yao lied, he didn't want Kaoru to know about Kiku. Heck, he didn't want anyone to know. He didn't really trust anyone in this new environment, and he thought it would be best to keep his secrets to himself.

"Hm...so you think Europa murdered your loved one?"

"Yes-aru. After hearing about it, it seems like the perfect candidate. They have a motive and everything-aru."

"What motive?"

"My master was wealthy-aru, so it could have been for profit like you said in your speech."

"Oh...you remember that?" Kaoru said, rubbing his arm.

"Of course-aru. It only happened a few hours ago or so. I couldn't forget a passionate speech filled with so much venom-aru."

"W-well, about the speech...I- I'm sorry I snapped at you. I had no right to do it. Europa just brings back horrible memories for me." Kaoru apologized, looking away.

"It's fine. But why do you hold so much hatred toward Europa-aru? You seemed to have talked from experience..." Yao asked, trying to shift the conversation away from himself.

"Oh, um...my master was kidnapped by Europa...we both were. Both of us tried to escape, together, but I was the only one who made it. I was forced to leave him behind and the memories from Europa still haunt me, so that I can never forget how I abandoned him."

"Oh. I see. I'm sorry about your master-aru."

'_Is his master dead?_' Yao thought about asking Kaoru his question, but thought better of it. '_Better not ask him now, it'll just bring up more horrible memories for him. He'll tell me when he's ready.'_

An awkward silence filled the room.

"So-aru...where are you from?" Yao asked, trying to fill the awkward silence.

"I was built in Kowloon, in Hong Kong. Master said you were created in Beijing, is that true?"

"It looks like we were both made in the orient." Yao said, smiling before continuing. "And yes-aru, I was created in Beijing. Although I have forgotten _who_ created me. I only remember the family I once lived with-aru."

"Oh? What was that family like?"

"They were very kind people-aru. They didn't treat me like a servant or a hunk of metal, they treated me like...family-aru. The family I once lived with, they had...hearts of gold, as humans would say."

"I see. It's nice to know there are at least some decent humans out there."

"Hm? Why do you say that-aru?"

"My old master's parents...didn't like me. You see, my old master was very shy, so he only talked to me most of the time. His parents thought I was the one making him antisocial, so they disliked me, but they couldn't get rid of me, or they would risk their son's unhappiness."

"Sounds rough-aru." Kaoru only shrugged.

"Not really, just annoying. It could have been worse."

"Well, we both have a new life here-aru. I believe this would be considered a blessing of some kind."

"I guess so...we both have a chance to take revenge on a common enemy."

"That's right-aru."

Kaoru yawned. "It's getting pretty late, we should both get to sleep in case we do anything tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right-aru." Yao said, standing up. "Let's go to bed."

Kaoru nodded, standing up. Both androids walked back to their room, feeling a closer bond to each other.

**~The Next Morning...~**

The next day, Yao was the second one to wake up. Surprisingly enough, the first one to wake up was Mei. Currently, she was standing over Kaoru's bed, quietly giggling. Tilting his head, Yao wandered over and tapped Mei on the shoulder.

"What's so funny-aru?"

"Look at those two...I swear, they're like a married couple already." Yao raised an eyebrow, looking at the bed, seeing Yong Soo in Kaoru's bed with his arms wrapped around the Chinese android.

"Are they a couple-aru?"

"Oh yeah...you don't know about Yong Soo's habits, do you?"

Yao only shook his head.

"Well, Yong Soo and Kaoru aren't officially a couple...yet. Yong Soo basically likes to grope Kaoru, and Kaoru pretends not to like it."

"So Yong Soo sneaks into Kaoru's bed every night-aru?"

"Well, not every night..."

"I think he's waking up-aru." Yao suddenly said, pointing to Kaoru. Said android was slowly opening his eyes, blinking a couple of times. He looked up at Yao and Mei and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"Look who's in bed with you..." Mei giggled.

"Huh? What are you-AH!" Kaoru yelped, seeing that Yong Soo was in his bed with him. The yelp caused Yong Soo to wake up as well. The Korean unit rubbed his eyes, yawning and greeting Kaoru.

"Good morning, Kaoru."

"G-get OUT!" Kaoru shouted, pushing Yong Soo out of his bed. The Korean android landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Ow! That wasn't very nice to do to your future husband- da ze!"

"You are not my husband!" Kaoru hissed, glaring at Yong Soo.

"Is this part a normal occurrence too-aru?" Yao whispered to Mei, who simply nodded.

"I am your husband-da ze! I've already claimed your breasts!"

"Wait. Did Yong Soo say that weird word after everything before?" Mei whispered to Yao.

"I don't think so-aru."

"Oh God...Kaoru, I think you messed up Yong Soo's speech..." Mei sighed.

"What do you mean?" Said Chinese unit asked.

"I think she means this- da ze. I'm saying this after just about everything I say- da ze." Korea said, pouting.

"I think we should ask Viet-aru." Yao suggested.

"Good idea." Mei said, beginning to walk out until she was stopped by a voice.

"There's no need, Mei. I'm already awake." Viet said, walking into the room. "I swear, you all could wake the dead with your yelling." she teased.

"I'm sorry we woke you up, Master." Kaoru quickly apologized.

"It's fine, I'm just happy you're all so...youthful! And what did I say about calling me that word?" Viet said the last part as if she were scolding a small child.

"Sorry Viet..."

"Viet, tell Kaoru that his breasts are mine- da ze!" Yong Soo whined.

"No, Mas- Viet, tell him that he shouldn't sneak into other people's beds!"

"You know, this is actually really adorable, seeing you both like this." Viet said, chuckling.

"It is not adorable!" Kaoru retorted, crossing his arms when Viet laughed.

"See-da ze? Viet is on my side." Yong Soo said, sticking his tongue out.

"I am on neither side you two, but I will say this: Yong Soo, it isn't good to sneak into people's beds and claim other androids' body parts."

"Ha!" Kaoru said, pointing at Yong Soo.

"However, it is also not good to mess with other androids' speech patterns, Kaoru." Viet continued. "Now both of you apologize to each other, now."

"...Sorry, Yong Soo."

"Yeah, same to you. Sorry-da ze."

"Good! Now we can go to the lab, we all need to discuss something. Follow me, everyone." Viet said, signaling everyone to follow her. She led everyone to her work room, the room with the iron table and computer.

"Now, everyone please take a seat."

Mei took her place on a rolling chair, Yao taking the seat next to her. Yong Soo took the seat on the other side of Mei and pulled Kaoru on his lap. Said Chinese android just crossed his arms and stayed on the Korean unit's lap. Viet stood in front of all of them, clearing her throat.

"Now, as you can all see, Yao will be staying with us. We are all very happy to have you." Viet began, smiling.

"Oh, uh...thank you-aru." Yao said, scratching the back of his head.

"YAY! Another bro -da ze!" Yong Soo cheered, only to be elbowed by Kaoru.

"Quiet!" he hissed.

"Now, in the past we have destroyed two branches of Europa, one in Poland and one in France. However, those branches were fairly small, and we have to continue with our mission to bring Europa down. So, I have bought five tickets to Italy, where we will destroy our next branch of the organization." Viet continued.

"Wait-aru. How do we destroy these branches?" Yao asked.

"Well...we assassinate their leader...and destroy their production methods.."

"So...like their factories-aru?"

"Exactly!"

"Oh...I see-aru."

"Very well then, I shall continue then. Now, Europa's branch in Italy is rumored to have a close alliance with Europa's branch in Germany, so by destroying one, we may be able to destroy two. I have also heard that the androids in Italy are...somewhat cowardly. So, we will probably have resistance from the German forces."

"So we're just going to bust in there and attack -da ze?" Yong Soo asked.

"No, there is a banquet of some kind that Europa is throwing in Rome, that is how we will get in."

"But we're not invited." Kaoru countered.

"Not necessarily, you see, a close friend owed me a favor and she forged an invitation for me. I will be acting as a scientist from Romania and you will all be my body guards. While we are inside, we will split up and search for any useful technology and during the party, we will poison the leaders of the German and Italian branches. Of course, one of us will have to place explosives in the factories..."

"But how will we accomplish that-aru? Surely the company will have battle droids..."

"Well, one of us will have to act as a waitress or waiter...and they will to poison them. Their deaths are the only way those branches will be broken. Then, we will make our escape in the chaos that will insure after both leaders die."

"But...who will kill them?" Kaoru asked.

Seeing no one else raise their hand, Mei shrugged and said:

"I guess I'll kill them." Viet nodded.

"We will be leaving in three days, so we need to prepare ourselves during the time we have. Yao, we still need to get you a weapon and we need to examine your speech, Yong Soo."

"Nah, I kinda like this- da ze." Yong Soo said. "I don't want it removed-da ze."

"Well...if you're sure you want to keep it..." Viet sighed. She then turned to Yao. "Now, let's go to the weapons room to get you a suitable weapon so you can fight. Everyone else can start packing."

"Okay-aru." Yao replied, following Viet out of the room. She led him to the end of the hall, opening the door waiting for them. Inside the room was a variety of weapons: guns, daggers, swords, even a couple of whips were present in the small space.

"Just pick any weapon that suits you." Viet said, smiling.

Yao stepped forward, walking over to a wall and running his hands along a dagger. He needed a light weapon that was easy to wield, as he didn't have much upper body strength. He looked at a couple of whips on a table in a corner, also finding them unsatisfactory.

'_Too hard to control_.' he thought sourly, turning his attention to some guns. He gazed at them for a moment before realizing those wouldn't work for him either, even though guns could kill from a long range, they would run out of ammo. He needed a melee weapon that was easy to wield and control. He turned away, noticing a sword. Yao blinked, walking over and examining the sword. It was a katana. He picked the blade up, swinging it a couple of times for good measure. He remembered Kiku telling him something about a katana...

* * *

><p><em>"You know Yao-kun, you're like my family's samurai.'"a nine year old Kiku said, watching Yao fold some laundry.<em>

_"Oh? How is that, Kiku?" Yao asked, putting a folded pair of pants to the side._

_"Well, you always protect my family and you're honorable. You're also great at fighting! I bet you could take on anyone that faced you, and you don't even need a sword!" Kiku exclaimed with childhood glee, making Yao chuckle._

_"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Yao started, but Kiku only continued on._

_"If you had a katana, you'd be UNSTOPPABLE! You should get a katana, I'll go ask otousan to get you one!"_

_"Kiku, wait!" Yao exclaimed, but Kiku ran out of the room. The Chinese android only chuckled, sometimes Kiku was just too hyperactive for his own good. He followed his master, having finished folding the laundry. _

* * *

><p>Yao blinked, examining the katana again. He smiled.<p>

'_Perfect_.' he thought.

"I've found my weapon-aru."

"Good. Hm...the katana? I was expecting you to use a gun."

"Nah. I'm not too fond of guns-aru. A sword works for me. It's...somewhat of a tribute for someone close to me."

"Oh..I see. Well, let's go begin preparing for the trip, shall we?"

"Of course-aru." And just as quickly as they went in, they both left and began to prepare for their trip.

**And...there we go! That is the third chapter. Also, about Yong Soo's speech..I realized that I made a FAIL and forgot his little verbal tic, so I devised a cheap way to put it in there! So, now he shall have a verbal tic, just like Yao! =D They can be verbal tic buddies! **

**Ahem, anyhoo, I shall get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Remember to review~**


	5. Chapter 4: Worst Party Ever

**Hey everyone! Welcome to the fourth chapter of Re_Cycle! Sorry to keep you all waiting, I just started school! So, I wanted to give you all this extra long chapter =) Also, I wanted to thank all of my reviewers, subscribers, and all of the people who added this story to their favorites! You guys are my motivation! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia. I will never own Hetalia. If I did, Giripan fangirls would probably want to kill me.**

Chapter 4: Worst. Party. Ever.

Yao pulled at the neckline of his shirt, wincing. Over the course of the past couple of days, everyone was preparing for the trip in their own way. Mei practiced her acting skills, preparing for when she would assassinate the head of both the German and Italian branches. Viet said she would have to wear a disguise in case anyone saw her, so Europa wouldn't trace the deaths back to her. Her usual long, brown hair was hidden under a short, black wig, and the flower pin usually present in her hair was left on her bed. Viet worked on her Romanian accent, since she would be impersonating a Romanian scientist.

Yong Soo practiced sneaking around, since as of yesterday, he decided he would be the one to place bombs in the factories. He practiced all night like so: sneaking into Viet's room while she was taking a nap, stealing one of Kaoru's shirts (for which he received a slap from said Chinese android when he went to retrieve his shirt), trying to take one of Mei's skirts and put it on Kaoru while he was sleeping (once again getting two slaps, this time from each android), and trying to style Yao's hair when he was sleeping...for which he received a harsh glare. Needless to say, no one really appreciated the Korean unit's antics.

Kaoru, on the other hand, was probably one of the more productive androids. He not only worked on his fighting, but he also looked into some popular German and Italian androids. Apparently, some German robots were programed to die for their masters...or completing their mission. Now, Kaoru didn't doubt that some androids were dedicated to their work and masters, but he knew as well as anyone that too much dedication could lead to some dangerous consequences.

Currently, all of the androids were in the lab, waiting for Viet. They all had matching suits on, a present brought for all of them by the scientist so they would actually look like a group of body guards. The suits weren't too flashy or expensive, just a black jacket, white dress shirt, black pants, and the distinguishing feature: a green recycle symbol on the right sleeve. However, Yao hated the thing. He felt the clothes were too tight, like they were slowly constricting him. Oh well, at least he didn't have to wear a tie. He sighed.

"Hey, what's wrong- da ze?" Yong Soo asked, suddenly appearing beside Yao.

"Ah!" Yao exclaimed, not expecting Yong Soo to be able to move that quickly. However, the Korean unit only smiled.

"My ninja skills are getting better- da ze!"

"Y-yeah...I guess they are-aru."

"Anyway, what's wrong, bro? Is this your first time killing someone-da ze?"

Yao opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. He pondered the Korean unit's question. Was it his first time killing someone? He had fought people before, that he knew for sure, but kill?

"I...I suppose it is-aru." he finally replied.

"Don't worry, bro! All you have to do is get some machinery! You'll do fine-da ze!" Yong Soo reassured, slapping a hand on Yao's shoulder.

"Heh, thanks-aru. I'm sure your...ninja skills will help you with your mission." Yao said, allowing himself to smile a little. Everyone here was kind, but Yao's main objective wasn't to find technology, it was to find Kiku.

After a little bit of waiting, Viet walked into the room, wearing a black turtle neck and a pair of jeans.

"Hello everyone! I'm sorry I'm late, I was trying to perfect my accent..." she said, dropping her bags to the floor.

"Ooh, show us your accent-da ze!" Yong Soo said, bouncing up and down.

"Oh Yong Soo, I don't think that's a good idea..." Viet replied, nervously scratching the back of her head.

"Oh come on, Viet! I'm sure it's just fine!" Mei pitched in, also wanting to hear the accent.

"Really, my accent isn't very good..."

"You can do it-da ze!"

"Please Viet?" Mei pleaded.

"Oh alright, but don't say I didn't warn you..." Viet started, sighing.

"Hello, my name is Violeta Petri, and I am from Romania." she said.

Silence filled the room.

"Oh god, I knew it was bad! Next time I'll have Elizabeta make me a British person!" Viet panicked, now beginning to pace.

"Don't worry, your accent is good!" Mei tried to calm Viet down, unsuccessfully.

"You just sound more German then Romanian-da ze." Yong Soo said, earning an elbow in the rib from Yao. "Ow-da ze!"

"Your accent is good-aru. Don't worry so much." Yao said, flashing a smile.

"Thanks everyone...I'm sorry I made a big deal out of it. Oh! I need to show you your targets..." Viet said, walking over to the computer. She typed away at the keyboard. "Okay everyone, come here. These two are the men we are going to assassinate."

Immediately, everyone crowded around the computer while Viet continued to speak.

"The man on your left is the leader of the Italian branch, Romano Vargas. Rumor has it that he once had a twin brother, Feliciano. However, Feliciano was assassinated because he was mistaken for Romano. Obviously, this scarred Romano and apparently, every robot he has looks similar to his dead brother. So if you see any look-a-likes of Mr. Vargas here, they're probably an android." she said, her tone indifferent.

Yao looked at the picture, quirking an eyebrow. Romano looked like he belonged in the mafia, not an electronics company. Then again, wasn't Europa like a mafia of some kind? Yao shrugged. Romano had the stereotypical suit, the fedora, and a smirk to top it off. The only thing that didn't fit in with the mafia look was a curly strand of hair that stuck out, even with his hat on. Viet continued to speak.

"The picture on the right side of the screen shows Gilbert Beilschmidt. He rules over the German branch of Europa. Unlike Romano, all of his android guards are different from what I've heard. I don't really have much information on him." She said, clasping her hands together.

"He looks like an albino-da ze!" Yong Soo blurted out.

"Would you quiet?" Mei asked, smacking the Korean unit upside the head.

"Ow-da ze!"

"Now Mei, there's no need for hitting anyone." Viet scolded.

"Sorry, Yong Soo." Mei apologized, rolling her eyes.

"It's okay-da ze. I forgive you." Yong Soo said, grinning.

_'Well, he is right.'_ Yao thought. Gilbert's silvery hair and red eyes would probably make a lot of people think he was an albino. At least he looked like an actual business man instead of a mobster. His wore a tuxedo and a wide grin. Neither Romano or Gilbert looked very diabolical, but looks could be deceiving.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Viet asked.

Kaoru looked around the room. "I don't think so." he said.

"Alright then, let's start heading to the airport then. Everyone grab your bags."

As everyone walked outside, they saw a taxi was waiting for them. The yellow ride seemed larger then usual taxis, like the size of two taxis.

"Um...Viet? Are you sure that's going to fit all of us?" Kaoru asked.

"Of course, Kaoru!" Viet said, flashing a grin. This action only made the Chinese unit sigh. One by one, everyone made their way into the taxi, placing their luggage in the trunk. Soon, they were on their way to the airport...well, that is until they hit some traffic.

After about forty minutes of being in traffic, Yao sensed they wouldn't be going anywhere too soon. He looked outside of the window, observing his surroundings. Despite the ungodly hour they woke up at, 6:00 in the morning, there were plenty of cars. A few neon colored signs illuminated the streets, displaying Chinese writing. Wait. Which city were they in?

"Hey Kaoru, what city are we in-aru?"

"We're in Tianjin." he replied, turning toward Yao. "I thought you knew that already."

"Oh...I didn't know, but thank you-aru." Well, this was all news to Yao. Before he shut down, he was in Beijing. However, Beijing was pretty close to Tianjin, right? Yao tsked, his memory was slowly fading away. He would have to go look at a map later, since his system didn't have an internet connection. After a few more minutes of waiting, Yong Soo asked:

"Hey Viet, what time do we have to be at the airport-da ze?"

"Hm? Oh, we have to be on board by 8:40."

"WHAT? Then why did we get up so early-da ze?"

"Because, I wanted to make sure we wouldn't be late. We absolutely cannot be late for the banquet."

"But I could've slept more-da ze! I was having this wonderful dream about Kaoru-"

"Why on earth were you dreaming about me?" Kaoru butted in, elbowing the Korean android on his right.

"Because, you're so cute- da ze!"

Mei only shook her head, trying to block the argument out.

_'When will they get together already?_' she thought, a sour look replacing her smile.

The taxi was starting to advance through the crowd of cars now, slowly making its way toward the airport.

"Yong Soo, how many times will I have to tell you this? I. am. not. your wife!" Kaoru almost shouted the last part.

"But once you've claimed someone's breasts-"

"Also, my chest doesn't belong to you. My chest belongs to me, because it is apart of MY BODY." Kaoru interrupted.

"...I've claimed your breasts, and once that happens, you're my wife-da ze." Yong Soo huffed, crossing his arms.

"Will you just-"

A loud beep from the front of the car interrupted Kaoru as the driver started to yell.

"Shǒubiǎo, nǐ yào qù!" the driver roared at the car in front of him, smacking the horn. It seemed that the other driver cut in front of the taxi, almost hitting the ride.

"Oh my..." Viet whispered, putting a hand over her mouth. The taxi was silent.

_'Well, at least no one is fighting anymore.'_ Mei thought, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. She looked outside the window, seeing they were close to the airport. A few more buildings passed by before the car stopped.

"Nàme, zhèlǐ de jīchǎng." the driver said, informing Viet and the others about their arrival.

"Xiexie." Viet said, paying the man.

The group got out of the taxi and retrieved their stuff from the trunk, beginning to walk toward the airport. As they entered the building, the first sight that greeted everyone was a flood of people. Yao turned away from the crowd, following his companions to stand in line. He couldn't believe this many people were here despite the early hour. However, when the Chinese android looked at the clock, he saw it was 7:15 am.

"Er...Yong Soo-aru? What time do we have to be on board?"

"I thought Viet said 8:40-da ze."

"Thank you-aru." Well, they wouldn't be late. They still had plenty of time.

"No problem, bro." Yong Soo replied, looking ahead. It looks like the line moved pretty quickly, seeing how Viet and the others were almost to the front. Viet was the first to the front, checking in her luggage and receiving her boarding pass, all while speaking flawless Chinese. She explained that Yao, Mei, Yong Soo, and Kaoru were all her androids brought along for her protection. The woman at the desk nodded, saying that they would still have to check in her luggage.

"Xiexie." Viet finished, smiling. She moved out of line, waiting on the side lines for the others.

Mei was next, also speaking perfect Mandarin. In a few moments, she was with Viet on the side, waiting. Kaoru had some trouble pronouncing some of the words, being used to Cantonese and not Mandarin. After a few awkward moments involving him using various hand gestures to get his point across, he was off to the side as well. Strangely enough, Yong Soo didn't have too much trouble getting his points across. Although his Chinese wasn't perfect, it got him through. Yao was the last one to reach the front. A woman in her late twenties greeted him.

"Nihao!" the airport worker said, smiling.

"Nihao." Yao greeted, putting his sheathed katana on the desk. The Chinese android had only bought his weapon with him, seeing no need to bring anything else. The woman smiled, attaching a tag to the sword, placing it behind her. She proceeded to hand Yao his boarding pass, saying:

"Xiǎngshòu nín de hángbān."

"Xiexie." Yao said, taking his boarding pass. It was nice of the worker to wish him a good flight. He left with his companions, moving toward security.

Once again, Viet was the first one to walk through security. She had to remove her shoes, empty her pockets, and walk through a metal detector.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

The security guard looked at the metal detector as it beeped. He then glared at Viet, who had a puzzled look on her face. What metal could she possibly have?

"Oh!" Viet exclaimed, realizing how she failed to pass the metal detector. She stepped back through the metal detector, now removing her belt and putting it on the side with her shoes. The Vietnamese woman walked through the machine again.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Viet groaned, she thought she would make it through this time. The guard examined Viet closely, stopping at her pants.

"Nǐ de kùzi de jīqì shèzhì." he said.

Viet looked down. Her pants were making the machine go off? Oh...the zipper was metal...crap. Well, she wasn't going to remove her pants.

The airport security worker only shook his head before motioning for Viet to walk through. Said woman quirked an eyebrow, moving through the security measure. When Viet was through the machine, the guard proceeded to pat her down. Needless to say, this embarrassed Viet to no end. She suddenly became stiff as the guard touched her.

_'Poor Viet...'_ Mei thought, now a little nervous about her turn. She certainly didn't want to be molested. Unfortunately for her, her turn was next.

When the guard was done with Viet, she whispered something in his ear. The man just raised an eyebrow, flicking his eyes toward Mei and the others. Finishing speaking to the guard, Viet went off to the side again and waited. The guard motioned for Mei to walk through the detector. Of course the female android caused the machine to go off, being made of metal and wire.

One she was through the machine, the guard patted her down as well. However, Mei still wasn't prepared for being searched, so she yelped.

"AIYEEE!" she yelped, startling the other occupants in line. Well, that is except for Yong Soo.

"Haha, Mei made a weird sound-da ze." he taunted, chuckling. Mei only sent an icy glare at Yong Soo, effectively making him shut up.

"Qīngjié." The guard said, letting Mei go. Kaoru was next. He walked to the guard, expressionless. In fact, the same dead pan stare was on his face when he was searched.

_'Well, if he's uncomfortable, he's doing a great job at hiding it._' Yao thought, stepping forward as Yong Soo was called up.

The Korean unit didn't seem too awkward when he was searched either. However, his usual happy-go-lucky attitude took a nose dive. That's right, even he didn't like being patted down.

"Qīngjié." The guard said again, saying that Yong Soo was clean and calling Yao forward. Said android sighed and obeyed, causing the machine to go off like his companions did. He tensed as he was searched, feeling real awkward. After a few extremely awkward moments of being searched, the guard let Yao go and nodded to Viet. Yao supposed that was the signal they were free to go. He hurried over to the others and joined them.

Viet looked to make sure everyone was present and then said:

"Well, it looks like everyone is here." She checked her watch. "That took a little longer then expected...it's 8:10 right now. I guess we should get to the plane, huh?"

"Yeah...we probably should." Mei agreed. And with those words said, the group started to travel toward their flight.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, the group had boarded the plane. Yao slumped in his seat with a sigh, they had made it to the plane with about twenty minutes to spare. Luckily, he had seats close to his campaigns. Viet and Mei were two rows ahead of him, followed by Yong Soo and Kaoru who were in front of him.<p>

"Oh god..." Kaoru sighed as he realized he would have to sit next to Yong Soo.

"Yay! I get to sit next to my wife-da ze!"

Kaoru didn't even bother to argue with him this time, choosing only to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. He was too tired to argue right now. He leaned back and slowly fell asleep in his chair, Yong Soo pulling a seatbelt over the sleeping android.

Yao didn't see anything else to do, seeing how the flight was twenty minutes away from starting. So he put on his seatbelt and followed Kaoru's example, activating his sleep mode.

* * *

><p><em>"Yao-kun, can I ask you something?" A seven year old Kiku asked.<em>

_"Sure. What do you want to know?" Currently Yao and Kiku were in the family garden, relaxing on a patch of grass. They were laying side by side, watching the clouds. It was spring, and some recently planted chrysanthemums were beginning to bloom._

_"Well, I heard okasan and otosan talking about one of my cousins getting married...they said he was going to have a wife now."_

_"Oh yes, your cousin Jiro is going to get married to his girlfriend. I believe her name was Amane. Is something troubling you about their relationship, Kiku?" Yao asked, propping himself up on one elbow and turning to face his young master._

_"No, Amane is nice. I was just wondering what the definition of marriage is. I asked otosan and okasan, but they just told me I would find out when I'm older."_

_"You want to know what the concept of marriage is?"_

_"Very much so."_

_"Alright. Well, marriage is the formal union between a man and woman, which makes them husband and wife. Marriage is recognized by law." Yao explained, using the dictionary definition he found on his database._

_"...What?"_

_"Er...in other words, it's when two people want to spend the rest of their lives together. The man is called the husband, while the woman is referred to as the wife." Yao tried to explain in simpler terms._

_"Hm..." Kiku said, scratching his head._

_"Do you understand the definition?"_

_"I guess so...but now I want to ask you a different question now."_

_"Alright, what is it?" Yao questioned, laying down and closing his eyes._

_"Will you be my husband?" Kiku asked._

_The Chinese android's eyes shot open. Did Kiku just ask...oh God._

_"Er...why would you want th-that?" Yao stammered, not knowing how to respond to that question._

_"If we're married, we won't ever be separated! I want you to always be by my side." Kiku said with an innocent smile, only making Yao sigh. The robotic butler didn't have the heart to tell his young master that a relationship between an android and a human would probably be frowned upon and that he didn't quite get the definition._

_"Alright. I'll be your husband." Yao said, sighing._

_"YAY!" Kiku cheered, now sitting up. "But we have to make a promise! It won't work unless we both promise!" he held out his pinky, waiting for Yao to do the same. Of course, the Chinese android complied and held out his pinky, intertwining it with Kiku's._

_"Yubikiri genman, uso tsuitara hari senbon nomasu, yubi katta." Kiku said, smiling. _

* * *

><p>Yao's eyes shot open, looking around the plane. It looks like the plane had taken off a while ago, seeing that there were plenty more passengers on the flight now.<p>

The Chinese android heard snoring, turning to see an old man next to him. Sighing, Yao knew he wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight. He stared out the window, waiting for the flight to be over.

"Hey bro, are you awake-da ze?" Yong Soo asked.

"If by bro you mean me-aru, then yes."

"Awesome-da ze! I'm bored, so let's chat!" Yong Soo cheered, turning back to face Yao.

"Okay-aru, but are you sure that's safe? Won't your seatbelt...dig into you or something if you sit like that-aru?"

"Don't be silly-da ze! I took that thing off a while ago!"

"...Alright-aru."

"Hm...now what should we talk about-da ze?"

Yao thought for a moment, deciding to ask a question that's been plaguing his mind for a while now.

"What countries are a part of Europa-aru?"

"Um...Well, I know at least seven countries have branches-da ze. There was one in Poland and France, but we destroyed those...There are two branches currently existing within Italy and Germany- da ze. But those probably won't last that long now that we have our sights on them. I think there's also branches in Greece, England, and Russia...Kaoru or Viet would probably know a lot more- da ze."

"I see...so is all of Europe affiliated with Europa-aru?"

"Not all of Europe, but most of it-da ze. Though I'm sure only a few countries have branches of the company-da ze. I guess the other countries with no branches help make...androids-da ze."

"I still can't believe the authorities can't do anything-aru."

"They can't do much these days. The most they can accomplish is lowering crime rates a little bit-da ze." Yong Soo said, shrugging.

"Yes-aru, but it's still not right! The authorities are supposed to uphold the law, not let some organizations walk all over them-aru!" Yao hissed, weary of other people eavesdropping.

"True-da ze. But now they're almost useless now. It's up to rebel groups like us to stop them now."

"Yeah..."

_Ding Dong_. A sound rang through the plane as a cheery voice started to speak over the loud speaker.

"Zhùyì chéngkè, wǒmen yǐjīng jīhū dàodá wǒmen de mùdì de. Qǐng zuò xiàlái zhǔnbèi jiàngluò, bìng gǎnxiè nín yǔ wǒmen fēixíng. Yǒu yīgè hěn hǎo de yèwǎn." the voice said in Mandarin Chinese.

"What did she say-da ze? She spoke too fast." Yong Soo asked Yao, puzzled.

"Oh, she said something like this: Attention passengers, we have almost arrived in our destination. Please sit back and prepare for landing. Thank you for flying with us. Have a nice night-aru." Yao answered.

"Oh...thanks-da ze!"

"No problem-aru."

In about fifteen minutes, the plane had landed and everyone was starting to get out. Once outside, Viet started to speak to her family as they were walking toward baggage claim.

"Alright, it is 6:00pm right now and the banquet starts at 8:00pm. We will leave for the banquet at 7:30pm, but for now we have to go claim our luggage and then we'll go to the hotel."

"But...how will we get to the hotel? As far as I know, none of us know Italian." Mei said.

Viet only smiled and pulled out a phrasebook from her pocket.

"Don't worry, Mei. I always try to come prepared."

After a few minutes of following signs, they reached the Baggage Claim.

"Alright everyone, find your stuff." Viet said, already beginning to look. Everyone followed suit, shifting through the sea of bags to locate their own belongings.

"I found mine-da ze!" Yong Soo cried, holding up his bag.

"Would you stop yelling? You're drawing too much attention to us." Kaoru said sourly, inspecting another bag. "This one's not mine either." he mumbled.

"Do you need help-da ze?"

"No, I am perfectly capable of finding my luggage, thank you very much." Kaoru said as he picked up another bag. He examined it for a bit before saying:

"See? This one is mine."

"God, you guys should just get together already." Mei teased, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"I'm not getting together with Yong Soo. _Ever._" Kaoru objected.

"Whatever you say..." Mei said. "You're going to get together with him eventually..." she mumbled.

Yao and Viet found their stuff shortly after the others. After everyone retrieved their luggage, they started to walk toward the front, discussing their means of transportation.

"So are we just going to flag down a taxi-aru?" Yao asked.

"Oh no, we can't wave down a taxi here. We have to go find a taxi stand." Viet replied.

"Ugh...you mean we have to walk-da ze?" Yong Soo whined.

"Yes, we will have to walk. However, I'm sure that there's one around here somewhere...perhaps we should ask someone." Viet said, flipping through her book. After stopping on a page and reading the contents, she walked up to a young man standing alone. She tapped the man on the shoulder, asking him a question in a pitiful Italian accent.

"Scusate, sapete dove lo stand taxi più vicino è?" Viet asked.

"In fondo alla strada, signorina. Quando sei di fronte, girate subito a sinistra e continua a camminare e lo troverete in nessun tempo." The man replied, smiling warmly.

"Grazie!" Viet said, only understanding a few words. After waving good bye to the kind young man, she returned to her comrades, telling them bits and pieces of what the man said.

"Okay, so I didn't understand everything he said because he was talking fast, but I did understand the words 'down', 'street', and 'left'. So, I think he said down the street to our left."

"Er...are you sure-aru?" Yao asked nervously. He certainly didn't want to get lost in an unfamiliar country.

"Er...I'm about seventy percent sure, but we never know unless we try, don't we?"

"I guess so-aru.

Luckily, Viet was right and they found the taxi stand in about ten minutes. Viet managed to book a taxi within five minutes with the use of her phrase book, and soon they were on their way to the hotel. However, the cab was a little small for all of the occupants, and Kaoru was forced to sit on Yong Soo's lap...again.

"I don't see why you're so angry-da ze. You should be happy to sit on your husband's lap-da ze."

"...I hate you all." Kaoru said, a sour expression on his face. He crossed his arms and huffed.

"Psst, Viet. How are you going to pay this guy?" Mei whispered.

"Oh don't worry, my friend who lives around here sent me some money."

"Oh, alright. Good." Mei breathed a sigh of relief. "Wait, who is this friend?"

"Oh, her name is Agata. We met in high school and she shares my views on Europa. She said she would try to help me whenever she could."

"Oh...well, that's good." Mei thought it would be rude to ask Viet if her friend could really be trusted.

"Eccoci qui." The driver said, parking in front of the hotel.

_'Wow, that was fast._' Yao thought.

"Grazie!" Viet replied, handing the driver his payment. She then turned to her companions "Let's go get our luggage and then we'll go settle in."

Viet and the others hopped out of the car, each grabbing their bags from the trunk. Now having their luggage, Viet and the others began to walk toward the hotel. When they were close to the door, Yong Soo sprinted ahead and held the door open for everyone.

"Oh, thank you." Viet said, flashing the Korean unit a smile.

"Xiexie, Yong Soo." Mei followed suit.

"Thanks-aru." Yao said, following after Mei and Viet.

"...Thanks." Kaoru mumbled as he walked through. Kaoru's response only made Yong Soo sigh and walk in, closing the door behind him.

"Alrighty then...well, I'll go check us in." Viet said, walking towards the front desk.

When she left, Yao observed his surroundings. The hotel was beautiful. The walls were a creamy, light orange color and the floor tiles were glistening. There was a small lounging area off to a corner with cushy, maroon chairs and a fine wooden table, complete with some magazines neatly spread out. There were some marble stairs, probably leading up to the rooms. Yao even saw a glass chandelier. The whole room seemed to be sparkling. Yao looked over at the front desk, seeing Viet was making her way back to the group.

"Okay, we're all set! Now let's go see our rooms!" Viet exclaimed happily, smiling. She was now carrying a package, which was quickly noticed by the others.

"What's that package? Kaoru asked.

"I'll tell you all when we are in our rooms. There's too many people here."

They walked up the marble stairs and into the hall, finding plenty of doors. Viet checked her room keys, which said room 97 and room 98. As for why there were two keys, Viet figured that it would be best to separate the boys and girls. It would make both Viet and Mei feel awkward if they had to share a room with three guys, especially one who seemed to grope people every day. She looked at the metal plates on the wall, which said which rooms were where. The sign said that rooms 1- 100 were to the left, so naturally the group went left. They walked down the hall for a few minutes before they started to get close to their rooms.

_'94...95..96 and...97 and 98!'_ Viet thought, stopping.

"Here we are!" she said, smiling. She handed the key to room 97 to Kaoru. "You guys will have your own separate room, but for now we'll talk about the contents of this box in your room."

They entered the room, each taking a seat on the floor. Since Yao was the last to enter, he made sure to close the door behind him. He checked a wall clock, seeing it read 6:55. Viet put the package in front of her.

"Hey Yong Soo, can I use your dagger to open this?" She asked.

"Sure-da ze." The Korean unit replied, fishing the small knife out of his pocket and handing it to his master.

Viet sliced the box open, gasping at what was inside. The box mostly contained circular, metal devices about as big as a fist.

"Are those...bombs?" Kaoru asked, whispering the last word. Viet took out one of the devises, examining it. She skimmed through the contents of the box, also finding a letter and some Italian currency.

"Looks like it. There's a letter and some money, too. I'll read it out loud." Viet cleared her throat before reading the letter.

"Dear Viet, Well, I told you I would help you as much as I could didn't I? I hope your life mission is going well so far. My life is moving along nicely so far, I've managed to get a high job as a scientist for a testing facility. Anyway, enough about me, I'll write about the contents of this package. The metal devices are bombs, to destroy factories and whatever else you wish. These devices can be stuck to walls, so you can easily hide them in crevices. In the package you will also find a switch which will set the bombs off after you plant them. Even if you press the the explosives won't detonate. This is because the bombs need to be activated by another switch on the side to allow them to detect the signal the switch will send out. There should be a little lever like switch on the sides of the bombs, those are the switches." Viet paused to inspect the explosives, indeed finding the small, lever like switch the letter mentioned. She showed it to Yong Soo, who would be destroying the factories.

"I got it-da ze." He said after looking at the bomb for a little bit. Viet nodded and continued reading.

"I suppose those classes in engineering and robotics worked out for both of us, didn't they? I've also provided some money just incase you were running a little short. Anyway, I hope these items help you and don't worry about the police capturing me, I sent this from a old enemy's address. Good Luck and don't forget to write and call! Your Friend, Agata."

Viet put the letter next to her and pulled out the detonator from the package, handing it to Yong Soo.

"Here, since you'll be doing the factory work, you should probably hang on to this."

"Awesome-da ze!"

"Just don't set them off." Mei warned.

"I won't-da ze. I'll be extra careful."

Viet looked at her watch, gasping.

"Crap, it's 7:10 already! All of us still have to get ready!" She exclaimed, standing up. "Come on, Mei! We have to go get dressed and you all have to get ready, too!" The slightly panicked woman added, pointing toward the guys.

"Oh! Alright, I guess we'll meet you guys out in the hall when we're done." Mei said, already being dragged away by Viet.

"Oh God, I still need to arrange a ride..." The Vietnamese woman mumbled. Both women left, leaving the three androids alone.

"...Do any of us have to do anything to get ready?" Yong Soo asked.

"No." Kaoru answered.

"Nope-aru." Yao replied.

"...Do we all have our weapons?" Kaoru asked.

"Yes-aru." Yao said, running a hand along the sheath of his katana.

"Of course-da ze!"

"Good, I have mine too."

"Should we go wait in the hall-aru?"

"Yeah."

"Probably-da ze."

"Then we should probably wait-aru, since we don't have anything else to do. Also, Yong Soo-aru, don't forget your uh...items." Yao almost whispered the last part, pointing toward the bombs.

"Don't worry, I won't-da ze." Yong Soo said, already beginning to stuff the bombs inside his pockets.

"I don't think your pockets will be an efficient hiding spot." Kaoru said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Then where should I put them-da ze?"

"Put them in this." Kaoru replied, tossing a black bag to the Korean unit. "I originally brought this bag along so I could get some metal parts, but I see you need it more then I do."

"Oh...thanks- da ze."

"Yeah sure. Now come on, let's wait outside." Kaoru said, already beginning to walk toward the door. Yao shrugged, following Kaoru out the door. Yong Soo had to grab the bombs along with the switch before making his exit.

The three androids waited in the hall for about eleven minutes before Viet and Mei emerged from their room. Mei was still wearing the suit, just as the others were. However, Viet now had a black dress on along with a gold chain necklace.

"Hey, guys. Sorry to keep you all waiting." Mei greeted.

"No it's fine, you two didn't make us wait long at all." Kaoru replied.

"I'm glad." Viet said, smiling. "Oh! I almost forgot to give you all these." She fished out five communicators.

"Are those cell phones-da ze?"

"No, Yong Soo. These are so we can keep in contact. They're like...walkie talkies, except better. Now everyone take one." As she said this, Viet handed the small, metal devices out.

"So...how do we use these?" Kaoru questioned.

"Oh, there's a contact list on each one if you press this button here." Viet explained, pointing toward a yellow button. "Then you just use the arrow keys to scroll up or down and then press the green button to call."

"Still sounds like a cell phone to me-da ze..." Yong Soo mumbled.

"Wait, how did you get these?" Mei asked.

"I have connections."

"...You stole them, didn't you?" Mei accused.

"That's such a strong word..."

"I knew it." Mei sighed.

"Anyway, our ride should be waiting outside, so we should get going." Viet said. "Heck the first thing I did when I got in my room was arrange for a taxi."

"Yay! No walking-da ze!" Yong Soo cheered, throwing his hands in the air. Viet giggled.

"Yes, no walking. Now come on, let's go."

With those final words, the group began to make their way toward their ride and the banquet. They walked down the stairs, through the room, and outside into the cool, evening air. Yao looked ahead, seeing the ride that Viet had arranged. It looked just like the taxi they had arrived in. The Chinese android shrugged and followed his companions to the car.

Once they were all inside, Viet gave the directions to the driver, who simply nodded and began driving.

Yao looked out the window, thinking. He was going to help kill someone. He had never murdered anyone before. What if they got caught? God, he was starting to over think things again... He sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Viet give Mei something.

_'Probably the poison.'_ Yao thought, remembering how Mei was going to assassinate the leaders.

He sighed again. Why was he getting so worked up? It wasn't like he going to directly kill anyone...he was just going to be an accomplice. All he needed to do was steal some machinery. However, his main concern was to look for Kiku.

"Siao Qui." The driver's voice brought Yao back to reality.

"Oh, we're here. Grazie!" Viet said, paying the driver. She hopped out of the car, along with the others. Together, they began to walk toward a huge crowd. Viet checked her watch.

"It's 8:05. The banquet should've started by now."

"Maybe the doors are open, but everyone is having trouble getting in because of the large crowd. There must be at least a couple of hundred people here." Kaoru chipped in.

"True, but...are the doors opened?" Viet asked.

"I'm not sure, it's hard to see from here." Kaoru replied.

"Where are the factories-da ze?" Yong Soo mumbled, looking around for any smoke from the buildings.

"In the back, probably." Kaoru whispered.

"Oh...well, I know where I'm going now!" Yong Soo said, grinning.

"Just don't get broken..." Kaoru sighed.

"Oh? Did I detect some worry-da ze?"

"No, you didn't."

"Guys, stop fighting, we're almost in." Mei hissed. It was true, by the time the group had reached the doorway, the crowd had almost disappeared into the building.

_'Well, this is it.'_ Yao thought, stepping through the door along with his friends.

The room looked like something straight out of the movies. It had the white marble floor, the white walls, at least three tables filled with food and drinks to the right, two beautiful stairways leading to a second floor, and hundreds of people scattered in the open space, chatting.

"Alright everyone, let's go." Viet said, already walking forward.

"Alright! Finally some action-da ze!" Yong Soo said, rushing ahead into the crowd.

"...Good luck everyone." Mei said to her companions before she went over to a maid.

Kaoru only shrugged and kept his poker face on as he wandered around, disappearing into the crowd after a few minutes.

Now, Yao could look for Kiku. If this Europa company was holding Kiku hostage, then there was a chance he could be here. But...where would a company be keeping someone being held hostage? Surely not in the open, in a crowd of people where he could get help...maybe upstairs? Yao shrugged and tried to push his way through the crowd, looking upstairs was better then just standing around. As he was moving through the crowd, he bumped into someone.

"Sorry-aru!" Yao quickly apologized.

"Ve~ It's okay! Would you like a drink, sir?" The person who Yao bumped into was a waiter. One with short, brown hair and a single curl sticking out. He looked just like Romano Vargas, which meant he was an android.

"Oh, no thank you-aru. I can't drink."

"Oh...are you an android, too?"

"Yes-aru."

"YAY! Ve~ I'm an android, too! I'm Feliciano Vargas, what's your name?"

"I'm Lin Shang." Yao said, using the first name he thought off of the top of his head. He didn't want anyone somehow connecting him to the death of Romano or Gilbert.

"Ve~ That sounds Asian...are you Asian?"

"Yeah-aru."

"I'm an Italian unit and I-"

"Waiter!" A gruff voice called, interrupting the Italian unit.

"Ve? Oh, someone wants a drink! Bye, I have to go now! It was nice meeting you!" Feliciano said, walking off to tend to the guest.

"Yeah, bye-aru." Yao watched the Italian unit disappear into the crowd, waiting until he was gone to resume looking for his master. He made his way to the stairs, making sure no one was following him. After making sure he wasn't being followed, he sprinted up the stairs, going straight into the hall. The hall was lined with doors, which meant there were plenty of rooms to look through.

The Chinese android began with the first door on his left, quietly opening the door and peeking inside. No Kiku, just a bed and a closet. Yao walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He checked the first door to his right, finding the same results. No Kiku, just a bunch of furniture. After looking through six more rooms with the same results, Yao was beginning to get frustrated.

"This sure is a huge house for someone who probably lives alone." He mumbled. He was about to look in the next room when he heard a voice.

"VE! Ludwig! HELP!" The voice sounded like Feliciano, the unit Yao had met earlier. Yao turned back, startled. He saw the Italian unit running away, probably to get reinforcements.

_'Crap-aru! I can't catch up with him now! I have to hide!_' Yao dashed into the nearest room, looking for a place to conceal himself. Once inside the room, he saw two places to hide: inside the closet and under the bed.

_'The closet would be too predictable...'_ Yao thought. He didn't want to be discovered by the enemy, so he hid under the bed.

A few minutes later, Yao heard footsteps followed by two voices.

"Ve~ I swear, there was a person up here! I can't remember his name, but it was Asian!" Feliciano said.

"Feliciano, you really need to stop eating pasta. I think it's causing your programming to malfunction." Another voice with a thick German accent sighed.

"It's not the pasta this time! I saw someone..."

"I really think you should stop eating pasta, it might be causing you to...hallucinate or something. Besides, you knew our stomachs are not meant to consume food. There's nothing here. See?"

From the German person's last statement, Yao could only assume both Feliciano and his friend were androids. The footsteps were coming closer, making Yao's breath hitch in his throat. He continued to listen to the two voices, praying they wouldn't discover him.

"No, he was in that room, right over there! The door is open!"

_'Shit-aru!'_ Yao mentally cursed. In his haste to hide, he had forgotten to close the door.

"Stay here, Feliciano. I'll check it out." The German voice said again.

"Ve...be careful, Ludwig."

Yao couldn't see anything because of the sheets and blankets draped over the bed. He heard the closet door being pulled open, followed by some curtains being pushed to the side. The German android, now known as Ludwig, continued to walk around the room, not even thinking to look under the bed.

"Feli, there's nothing here. We're going to need to check your programming when everyone leaves." Ludwig sighed.

"But I know he's here somewhere! Maybe he's in the next room or-" Feliciano was interrupted.

"Feliciano! That's enough. There's nobody here. Now let's get back to the others."

"But-" Feliciano didn't get to finish his sentence as he was dragged out of the room. Neither of them had noticed the Chinese android under the bed. Ludwig made sure to close the door behind him as he dragged Feliciano out. Yao let out a sigh of relief, he was safe. Making sure no one was in the room, he crawled out from under the bed.

_'Well, that was a close one.'_ He thought. Yao brushed himself off, looking around the room. He doubted Kiku was here either. He was about to exit the room when the door swung open.

"Ve~ I dropped my cross necklace." Feliciano said. He was about to walk in when he saw Yao. They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them moving.

"LUDWIG! IT'S HIM!"

Yao was frozen in place. His mind told him to move, but his legs wouldn't budge. Now that he was spotted, he was sure everything was going to go to hell.

Ludwig ran to his friend's side, peering into the room. He glared at Yao, moving Feliciano out of the way. He took out a leather whip and said:

"Let me handle this."

Feliciano backed away, staying in the hall in case his friend needed any help.

"Ve~ be careful."

"I know you're not one of the workers here, now who are you?" Ludwig growled, stepping toward Yao.

"I'm Lin Shang." Yao answered.

"Well, Mr. Shang, I'll have to ask you to go back downstairs. This area is off limits."

"Sorry-aru, I can't do that. I'm not going back downstairs." If Kiku was here, Yao was going to find him. He wasn't going to abandon his mission because one German unit told him to leave.

"I'll only ask you nicely once more. Please go back downstairs. If you do not, then I will have to use force."

"Then use it-aru. I am not leaving." Yao said, unsheathing his katana.

"Very well. Then I, Ludwig Beilschmidt, will eradicate you. Prepare to die."

And just like that, a fight between the two androids began. Ludwig was the first to strike, trying to hit Yao with his whip. Yao was barely able to dodge the attack because of the obstacles in the room. The Chinese android lashed forward, managing to land a hit on his opponent. The strike left a gash across Ludwig's chest. The German unit stumbled backwards, giving Yao an opportunity to land another blow. A kick was delivered to Ludwig's stomach, causing him more pain.

A black substance leaked from the fresh wound across his chest, but Ludwig didn't care. He was trained to handle immense amounts of pain. To him, the wound was as painful as a mosquito bite. He had been through much worse, and there was no way in hell he was going to lose. He lashed out with his whip again, striking Yao across an arm when he tried to block. The whip was pulled away for a moment before striking Yao again, this time around the leg. Ludwig smirked as he pulled his whip, dragging his opponent along with it. Needless to say, Yao was taken by surprise, not expecting his opponent to be this strong. Ludwig slammed his enemy against the wall, making him fall to the ground. The German android walked over to his opponent.

"You can't win. Just give up." he said. Yao coughed before replying.

"I'd rather die then surrender to you-aru!" he shouted, slashing at his opponent's legs. Ludwig seemed indifferent to Yao's attack and seized him by the throat, lifting him up.

"Please, I have trained as a battle droid for years. Judging from your pitiful technique, you weren't made to fight." the German unit taunted. Yao only coughed in response. Ludwig was slowly crushing his neck.

"Am I right?" Ludwig tried again, squeezing Yao's neck a little tighter.

'_Danger. Danger. Danger._' Alarms were going off in Yao's head. He didn't have many wounds, but his neck was a vital area. He needed to do something now, or his system would be permanently damaged. He took his katana and stabbed Ludwig through the stomach, twisting the blade in a desperate attempt to escape from his grasp.

The German unit gasped, dropping Yao. He wasn't immune to the new pain this wound was giving him. Yao probably hit a vital piece of software. He pulled the weapon out of his opponent and raised it above his head. Ludwig fell to his knees, trying to stop the black substance from flowing.

"Sorry-aru." Yao whispered, bringing the sword down on Ludwig's head. The katana cut right through the German android, splitting him in half. A black substance now stained the floor, along with Yao's clothing. Thankfully, the black, blood like material didn't make much of an impression on Yao's black suit. He looked toward the door, seeing Feliciano had fled. Yao only shook his head.

_'How disgraceful-aru.'_

He took a sheet from the bed, laying it over Ludwig's dead body. It was the least he could do for killing him. Yao did feel remorse for killing someone, never being a violent android, but it was self defense. If Yao had no choice but to fight to the death, didn't that justify Ludwig's death? He honestly didn't know. All he wanted to do was find Kiku as soon as possible. The Chinese android slowly walked out of the room, looking around.

_'Well, it looks like I didn't attract too much attention.'_ He was about to continue searching for Kiku when he heard a scream.

"He's dead! DEAD! Someone call the police!" A woman screeched.

_'I guess Mei poisoned both of them after all...'_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Yao felt the communicator vibrate in his pocket. He fished it out, putting it to his ear.

"Hello-aru."

"Yao? Where are you?" Mei's voice asked over the metal device. She was currently in an isolated corner, where no one would hear her.

"Upstairs-aru. I couldn't find any machinery because I was ambushed."

"Oh my God, are you okay?"

"Yeah-aru. I just have a flesh wound, nothing too serious. Are the leaders dead?"

"Yes, both are deceased. However, things are pretty hectic down here already. We should get out before Yong Soo completes his mission. Hell, everyone is trying to get out because they think some kind of sniper is on the loose."

"...A sniper-aru?"

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't know how they got that idea either."

"Hm, I guess it can't be helped-aru." Yao said, shrugging.

"What the..." Mei mumbled.

"Hm? What's wrong-aru?"

"Yao, get down here. Quickly. Someone called the cops." Mei's voice quivered.

"Crap-aru. Alright, where are you?"

"By the stairs."

"Alright-aru. I'll be right down." Yao replied, hanging up. He cursed, now he couldn't look for Kiku anymore. He took a look down the hall.

'_He's probably not here anyway._' Yao thought, gazing down the hall before bolting toward the stairs. He ran down the stairs, scanning the room for Mei.

"Dang, that was fast." Mei stated, startling Yao.

"Ah! Oh...it's only you-aru."

"Yep, it's me. Anyway, someone called the authorities. They're right over there." Mei whispered, pointing to some men in the distance. Currently, the uniformed men were trying to calm people down. Yao shrugged, it was perfectly natural for people to call the police in times of crisis. Well, either that or freak out in a chaotic frenzy. Two uniformed men were by the door, guarding it. They probably didn't want anyone to exit the mansion in order to trap the killer.

"Have they done anything useful-aru?"

Mei only shook her head.

"Not for us. So far they've mainly worked on calming people down. However, as you can see, they're guarding the door so no one can get out. That will be troublesome for us. We can't escape before Yong Soo...completes his mission."

"No...maybe that can work in our favor-aru."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Mei asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Think about it-aru. The assassinations have already gotten the people worked up. Heck, the police are struggling to keep everything under control. So-aru, if Yong Soo blows the building, it will cause an uproar. This will allow us to escape. I'm sure the police wouldn't keep a crowd inside of a building with a chance of exploding-aru." Yao explained.

"Ah...I get it. That's true...but we should locate Viet and Kaoru first. We don't want them to be in the explosion and get injured."

"Right-aru."

"I'll see if I can contact them." Mei said, pulling out her communicator.

"Alright-aru. I'll wait." Yao replied as Mei dialed. She smiled and nodded.

While Mei was trying to get in contact with Kaoru and Viet, Yao looked around the room. It certainly wasn't as calm as before. People were huddled together in small groups, officers were buzzing around the room, and the food table was completely deserted. Everyone was probably too paranoid to try anything. From what Yao could see, a lot of the people were nervously looking around, trying to see a sniper that didn't exist. He would never understand why some of these people thought there was a sniper in the building.

"Alright, we're by the stairs. Please get here as soon as possible." Mei finished, hanging up. Yao snapped out of his thoughts.

"I assume they're coming-aru?"

"Yep! They said they would be here soon. Viet also called Yong Soo. He said he'd activate his devices when she gives the word. Also, he'll meet us outside."

"Good-aru."

"Agreed. Now we just have to wait."

After about fifteen minutes, Viet joined the group, dragging Kaoru along with her.

"Hello everyone! It's good to see you all again." she greeted, grinning. "Everyone here is so stuck up." she added, whispering.

"Tell me about it." Mei agreed. "They treat androids like crap."

"Honestly, I can't believe some of these people! They're so arrogant."

"Um...can we please tell Yong Soo to complete his mission? I want to leave." Kaoru said, looking down.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me, I'll call him now." Viet said, a sheepish smile on her face.

Kaoru only sighed and shook his head. They all waited while Viet called Yong Soo. She nooded a couple of times, mumbling. When she finally hung up, she said:

"Well, he's gonna do it."

"When?" Mei asked.

"Just...about...now."

Right on que, the sound of an explosion shook the building, frightening everyone inside. The chaos from earlier rose again as people started to shout and make bee lines for the door. The police couldn't do anything now, their authority was useless.

Mei let out a shriek as the explosion was heard, making Kaoru cover his ears.

"God...that's loud." he mumbled. Even though he didn't mind fireworks, he could never get used to Mei's shrieks.

"Come on everyone, we need to move." Viet said, grabbing Kaoru's hand. "Grab a hand so we don't get separated. Yong Soo should already be outside."

Mei nodded and grabbed Kaoru's other hand. She then linked her hand with Yao's, pulling him closer.

"Let's go!" she said. The group made their way through the crowd, trying to avoid falling tiles and people at the same time. Yao had to work to keep up with the speed his comrades were moving at. It looked like his plan worked, everyone was now panicking, giving them a chance to escape. As he was being pulled toward the door, he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

He saw a young man...with a suit on...and a bowl shaped haircut. Almost like...

"Kiku..." Yao mumbled. "KIKU!" he shouted.

The young man stopped, lifting his head up. He was about to turn around when he was stopped by a tall, blonde man. The blonde man put a hand on the young brunette's shoulders, and they disappeared into the crowd. Yao tried to follow them, but he was pulled away by his comrades.

"What are you doing? We have to get out of here!" Mei hissed.

"But I...saw Kiku." Yao said.

"Who? Oh we don't have time for this! Now come on!" Mei huffed, keeping an iron grip on Yao's hand and pulling him.

"Wait-aru!" Yao cried as he was practically dragged out the door. He could've sworn he saw Kiku. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to catch a glimpse of the young brunette he saw before. However, he was nowhere to be found.

"Kiku..." Yao whispered. He looked up, seeing a towering inferno rising behind the once beautiful mansion. The building was slowly crumbling as the flames reached it. Police sirens blared and ambulance workers were tending to injured victims. Overall, the mission was a success, two leaders were now dead.

Two more branches of Europa were destroyed.

**That's the end of this chapter! I hope that was long enough to hold you guys over until the next update. In fact, this may be the last update for a while. I started school last week, on the tenth. Bleh. I already have a lot of homework. However, I'll try to crank out the next chapter as soon as possible for you all =) Also, here are some translations. **

**Chinese**

**Shǒubiǎo, nǐ yào qù!**- Hey, watch where you're going!

**Nàme, zhèlǐ de jīchǎng.**- Well, here's the airport.

**Xiexie**- Thank you.

**Nihao**- Hello.

**Xiǎngshòu nín de hángbān**- Enjoy your flight!

**Nǐ de kùzi de jīqì shèzhì**- Your pants are making the machine go off.

**Qīngjié**- Clean.

**Zhùyì chéngkè, wǒmen yǐjīng jīhū dàodá wǒmen de mùdì de. Qǐng zuò xiàlái zhǔnbèi jiàngluò, bìng gǎnxiè nín yǔ wǒmen fēixíng. Yǒu yīgè hěn hǎo de yèwǎn**- Attention passengers, we have almost arrived in our destination. Please sit back and prepare for landing. Thank you for flying with us. Have a nice night.

**Japanese **

**Yubikiri genman, uso tsuitara hari senbon nomasu, yubi katta**- Pinky promise, if I lie, I will drink 1000 needles, and cut my pinky. (This is a song that some Japanese children recite when they make a promise.)

**Italian**

**Scusate, sapete dove lo stand taxi più vicino è**- Excuse me, do you know where the nearest taxi stand is?

**In fondo alla strada, signorina. Quando sei di fronte, girate subito a sinistra e continua a camminare e lo troverete in nessun tempo**- Down the street, miss. Just turn left and keep walking and you'll find it in no time.

**Grazie**- Thank you!

**Eccoci qui**- We're here.

**As usual, I used Google translator, so I'm sorry if I butchered your language. ;.; I don't mean to, I swear! Also, about the taxi stands, I read online that you can't just flag down a taxi in Italy. The article said you have to go to a taxi stand or call a taxi stand to get a taxi. I've never been to Italy, so I used what the internet told me...I'm sorry if my research was wrong.**

**Anyway, tell me what you thought of this chapter! Especially if you have any critique for my fight scene. This was my first time writing one... Heck, if you have any critique for me, write it in a review! Or, if you just want to tell me what you liked about this chapter, leave a review! I would love to hear more from all of you! =) Thank you all and good night!**


	6. Chapter 5: Where Love Complicates Things

**Hello everyone! It's the weekend so I finally had the time to write and edit this chapter! As always, thank you to everyone who added this story to their favorites, subscribed, and/or reviewed! You all make my day with your kind words and actions T.T I love you all! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia...and I never will. =( **

Chapter 5: Where Loves Complicates Things

Two weeks after the banquet, Yao and the others were back in Viet's lab. They had managed to escape the party without being detected by the police because of the chaos that occurred after the explosion. Two more leader were dead, which meant two more branches were broken, an overall success. However, Yao still felt he had failed.

He could've sworn he saw Kiku at the banquet and he was unable to retrieve him.

What was worse was that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about him. Kiku seemed to be doing that a lot, completely occupying his thoughts. Everywhere he turned there was another thing that reminded him of the banquet. Of the guilt. The Chinese android observed his companions around the room, wondering if the mission had the same effect on them.

Currently, Yong Soo was sitting next to Kaoru, watching a newly installed television, while Mei was reading a beauty magazine. Well, it certainly didn't look like they were troubled by the two people they had killed and the hundred more they probably traumatized. Yao only sighed.

"Tch. There's another news report." Kaoru commented, snapping Yao out of his thoughts. He walked over to the TV, peeking over Kaoru's shoulder. On the screen was an English channel with Chinese subtitles. It was discussing the assassination of Gilbert and Romano, along with the bombing.

"The assassination of Romano Vargas and Gilbert Beilschmidt has left the world baffled. Who did this? What were their motives? And more importantly, who is next? Hello everyone, I am Nicole Fanning from TYR news." The news reporter said, holding a microphone to her mouth.

Yao rolled his eyes. Lately, there had been dozens of news reports like this, explaining what little the police knew about the murders.

"The two men were killed at a banquet in Rome, where police have concluded that they were poisoned. It is unknown who committed the murders, and police are still questioning witnesses." Nicole continued.

"God, there are way too many of these. I've seen at least five today." Kaoru complained. He was about to change the channel when Yong Soo snatched the remote from his hand.

"Let's see if they found out anything new to say-da ze." Yong Soo said, holding the remote away from the Chinese android next to him.

"Fine."

"If the murders weren't horrible enough, the perpetrators also bombed five factories, injuring twenty five people. Investigators believe that these murders are connected with the deaths of Francis Bonnefoy and Feliks Łukasiewicz, which happened only a couple of years ago." Nicole said again.

"God-da ze. They think?" Yong Soo said, quirking an eyebrow.

"With me, I have a representative from the English branch of Europa." After she said this, a tall man in a suit walked on screen. He looked like the stereotypical bodyguard, having the glasses, suit, and headset. "Now, what does Europa plan to do about these attacks?"

The man cleared his throat before speaking.

"I assure you, these terrorists will be captured and detained. Europa is using all of its resources to track down these murderers and bring them to justice." The man said in an emotionless voice.

"Yeah right, da ze! They couldn't catch us if we smacked them in the face!" Yong Soo said.

"Shh!" Kaoru shushed the Korean unit, turning his attention back to the tv.

"But what is happening now? People are getting hurt and dying!" Nicole questioned, failing to retain her calm tone.

"We are investigating the murders, what else?" The man replied, not even turning to look at the female reporter.

"You have been doing that for months! What security measures are being taken?" Nicole tried again.

"More battle droids are being mass produced as we speak to protect Mr. Jones."

"What is Mr. Jones's reaction to the murders?"

"That question is irrelevant." The man answered.

_'Is this guy human?'_ Yao thought. So far, the man on the TV didn't move an inch ever since he stepped on screen. Heck, the guy didn't convey any emotion whatsoever. He continued to watch the screen.

"What do you mean it's irrelevant? Mr. Jones may be next!" Nicole argued.

"Ma'am, you are letting all of this chaos go to your head. Please calm down." The man said, voice indifferent.

"NO! I will not calm down! You are just an emotionless droid who-"

Nicole's statement was cut off as a picture appeared on screen. The report was replaced with a picture of a panda cub next to an empty electrical socket. The cub had an electrical cord in its mouth, a wire that was probably supposed to be in the socket. The words 'Technological Problems' were plastered across the top of the picture.

"Well, that's the end of that." Kaoru deadpanned, switching the TV off.

"Tsk. Well, we have nothing to worry about-da ze." Yong Soo said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't get too cocky. You heard them, this 'Mr. Jones' will have plenty of battle droids." Kaoru replied.

"Yeah, but we killed two in one go. This one will be easy-da ze!"

Kaoru only rolled his eyes. "There's just no getting through that thick head of yours, is there?"

Yao tuned the rest of the conversation out, focusing on his own thoughts instead. If this Mr. Jones was truly a part of Europa, then there was no doubt that they would be seeing him soon. That meant another small chance to find Kiku.

"Hey, Yao, are you okay?" Mei asked, tapping the Chinese android on the shoulder.

Yao blinked a couple of times before turning around to answer Mei.

"I...I'm fine-aru." he answered.

"Are you sure? Ever since we came back from Rome, you don't seem like yourself." Mei replied, concern practically dripping from her voice.

"Oh no-aru. Nothing is wrong." Yao said, lying to Mei's face.

"Alright...but if you ever need to talk about something, just tell me."

"Sure-aru."

Mei smiled before turning away and walking over to Kaoru. Yao only sighed. He left the room, retreating to his bed. The Chinese unit flopped down on the bed, staring at his left arm. It was the limb that was injured during his battle with the German unit, Ludwig. Viet had tended to the wound, bandaging it after.

Yao stretched out his arm, staring at it and flexing his fingers. He couldn't believe he had allowed Ludwig to land a hit on him. He felt weak. Yao groaned, covering his eyes with his arm.

_'How can I retrieve Kiku if I can't even defend myself?'_ he thought.

Yao might have been being too hard on himself, but he didn't care. Ever since he saw Kiku at the banquet, he couldn't stop thinking about him. Most of these thoughts were worries about the well being of his master. What if Kiku was being emotionally tortured? Yao would never be able to forgive himself if Kiku was harmed because of his incompetence. Could the worry be some form of-

_'No. Feelings like that between humans and androids are taboo.'_ Yao thought. There was no way he actually loved Kiku, these feelings were just guilt and worry. Nothing more and nothing less.

He needed to stop thinking about everything that could be going wrong with Kiku right now before he went into a chaotic frenzy or something. He was only making things worse for himself. The Chinese unit looked at a nearby clock, seeing it read 6:00 pm.

_'It wouldn't be abnormal for me to go to sleep, right-aru?'_

He didn't see anything else to do, so he activated his sleep mode and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Five hours later, Yao's eyes fluttered open to the sound of snoring. He glanced over to his side, where he saw a mass of blankets, the source of the snoring.<p>

_'Kaoru...'_ Yao thought, knowing Kaoru was the source of the noise. He sighed and got out of his bed, being careful not to wake the others. He walked down the hall and into the lab again, taking a place by the computer. There was something he needed to do.

Slowly, he placed his hands on the keyboard and typed in the address of a search engine, waiting for it to load. When the page loaded, Yao typed in a single sentence:

_What does it mean when you can't stop thinking about someone?_

The Chinese android pressed the enter key, seeing plenty of results in appearing in roughly thirty seconds. He clicked on the first link, an ask and answer website. Yao scanned the web page, reading. The question was written in bold letters at the top of the page:

_What does it mean if I can't stop thinking about a guy I haven't seen for years?_

Yao shrugged, it seemed similar enough to his situation. He scrolled down, reading the answer. He was not prepared for what the answer said.

_Congratulations! You're in love! What are you going to do about it? Will you go ask him out? It doesn't matter how many years have passed, love will conquer all!_

Yao's mouth hung open. If this web page was true...oh God. No, there was no way Yao could love his master. He went back to the search engine, opening more pages.

All of them basically said the same thing.

_You're in love._

_It's love, dude! Go ask'em out!_

_Love, duh!_

_You're in love with her. Go ask her out before it's too late. Believe me, I know from experience._

Love. That word felt foreign to Yao. He felt as though he was unworthy of it, like it was a sin. Yao was made to serve his master as an artificial being, not fall in love with him. It was taboo.

It was wrong.

Androids were not capable of feeling love for a human, that was the idea that was imbedded into Yao's head. He should't feel any emotion for any human other then devotion to serve and obey. But with Kiku, it felt different.

Yao did want his master safe, it could be counted as a guardian's protectiveness. But it felt like so much more. He sighed and exited the pages. There was no way this could be happening.

"Hey, bro. Are you alright- da ze?" a voice asked from behind Yao. The Chinese android jumped a little, startled. He slowly turned around to the source of the voice, Yong Soo.

"Er...I could be better-aru." Yao answered.

"Do you want to talk about it-da ze?"

"I...don't really want to-aru."

"Alright, but is it okay if I talk to you about something then-da ze?"

Yao blinked. Yong Soo wanted to talk to him about something?

"Um...sure-aru."

"Thanks, bro!" Yong Soo replied, grinning.

"No problem-aru. Now what's wrong?"

"Well, uh...I wanted to ask you how to pick up someone-da ze." Yong Soo said, scratching the back of his head.

"W-what-aru?"

"No offense, but you kinda look like a player-da ze."

"How on earth do I look like a player-aru?"

"Hey, I said no offense-da ze! Now answer my question!"

"Erm...well, you could always ask them out-aru. I mean, isn't how humans usually pick someone up?"

"I can't do that yet-da ze. He'll just say no." Yong Soo whispered, looking at the ground.

"What makes you say that-aru?"

"He always rejects my advances-da ze. Kaoru barely talks to me unless he's scolding me." Yong Soo said, not realizing he said the name of his crush.

"Kaoru-aru?" Yao questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait! I-...yeah. I do like Kaoru, alright-da ze? I've liked him for a while now." Yong Soo confessed.

"But...how do you know-aru? Androids are artificial beings. They can't feel lo-" Yao was interrupted by Yong Soo.

"Don't say that-da ze! I know what I'm feeling for Kaoru!" Yong Soo growled.

"Calm down, I'm just stating facts-aru. Also, you still didn't answer my question. How do you know?" Yao asked again.

"I can't stop thinking about him, hell, every single thing reminds me of him-da ze. I want to know every single thing about him and I care about his safety more then my own. And to top it off-da ze, I get this weird feeling whenever I'm around him. I don't know to describe it, it's just weird."

Yao made a mental checklist of everything the Korean unit had said and found most of what Yong Soo said applied to him and Kiku. Every object reminded Yao of Kiku somehow, resulting in the Japanese man constantly occupying the android's thoughts. Yao knew plenty of things about Kiku, after all, they had spent years together. Yao did want his master to be safe, but that could be written off as mere dedication. As for the last thing on Yong Soo's list, Yao wasn't sure. He didn't recall any weird feelings between him and Kiku...these feelings were confusing.

"So, what should I do-da ze? What can I do if he constantly rejects me?"

Yao snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Yong Soo's voice. He blinked a few times before answering.

"I guess just be persistent-aru. Or maybe you can make him love you somehow...save him somehow maybe?"

"That's a great idea-da ze! When he's in trouble I can save him! I can set up the scenario and everything and then when I save him, he'll have to love me-da ze!"

_'Uh oh...'_ Yao thought. Yong Soo making any scenario didn't sound good...he would probably over do it.

"Er...why don't you let me help you sometime-aru?" Yao suggested.

"Okay! You can be disguised as the villain-da ze!"

Well, Yao didn't exactly like the idea of being the bad guy, but if it was to his friends happy, then so be it. He chuckled.

"Alright-aru."

"Great-da ze! Thanks, bro!" Yong Soo was beaming now.

"Haha, why don't you go to sleep-aru? We all might have to do something tomorrow." Yao suggested.

"Yeah! I need to be in tip top condition when I make Kaoru fall in love with me-da ze!" Yong Soo said, pumping a fist in the air. "Thanks for your help again, bro!"

"Of course-aru."

Yong Soo gave a wide grin before running out of the room, probably to go pounce on Kaoru. Yao only sighed as soon as the other unit was out of the room. Most of what Yong Soo had said matched his feelings about Kiku. That couldn't mean that he loved Kiku, right?

Androids aren't human, so they can't feel complex human emotions. Androids were created to serve and obey, nothing more. They certainly weren't created so humans can have robotic love interests.

Yao groaned. All of these complicated feelings were beginning to mess with his system. He needed to sort his thoughts out.

He didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

**And that's it for this chapter! Yao is questioning himself is Yong Soo is being...Yong Soo! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will get the next part up and running as soon as possible! **

**And remember, comments are always loved and appreciated! =) I welcome constructive criticism with open arms. **

**Anyway, have a wonderful day and stay awesome everyone!**


	7. Chapter 6: Two Plans, Two Goals

**Hello, lovely people! Since I'm on break, I had some time to write and edit another chapter for you all! Unfortunately, I go back to school on Monday...but before that happens, I'll post this sparkly new chapter for you all! **

**Once again, thank you to anyone and everyone who reviewed, added this story to your favorites, or subscribed! You are all loved =) **

**DISCLAIMER: The wonderful world of Hetalia does not belong to me...it belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya...Also, I don't own any Vocaloid songs either. **

**Now that my ranting is done, enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 6: Two Plans, Two Goals.

By the time the sun rose, Yao was still in the same spot as the night before. No matter how much he thought about it, or what perspective he took, he couldn't come to a sensible conclusion about his feelings for Kiku. The internet had to be wrong, it just had to be. There was no way in hell that Yao had fallen for Kiku.

_No way in hell._

The sound of footsteps approaching snapped Yao out of his thoughts. He looked behind him, seeing none other then Viet.

"Good morning, Yao. What brings you here so early?" Viet greeted, smiling.

"Good morning-aru. I couldn't sleep, my sleep mode wouldn't work." Yao lied.

"Oh..perhaps you have a bug. Would you like me to check?"

Yao's eyes widened. A bug! Of course, it was so obvious! He was a machine, he could have a virus! That had to be the cause for the weird feelings Yao was having.

"Yao? Are you alright?" Viet asked, waving a hand in front of Yao's face. "I'm sorry if I offended you, I was just-"

"Oh no! Not at all-aru! Could you check me for any malfunctions?" Yao interrupted.

"Oh...sure. Please sit down on the examination table over there." Viet replied, gesturing toward a metal table. Yao hopped out of his seat, walking over to the table before sitting down again. Viet walked behind Yao, pushing his hair out of the way and revealing a metal plate. She picked up a screwdriver, flawlessly removing the screws keeping the metal plate in place.

"So, what makes you think you have an error? Well, besides your sleep mode not functioning properly." Viet asked, removing the plate and putting it to the side. She grabbed a wire and stuck it into the electrical socket revealed after the removal of the metal plate.

"I'm not sure. Lately I've just been spacing out a lot." Yao lied.

"I see. Well, let's see if anything is wrong." Viet said, checking if everything was secure before walking over to her computer. She typed for a few moments and pressed the enter key, waiting for the results.

"Is anything wrong-aru?" Yao asked.

"Hm...so far, no. However, the scan isn't completed yet." Viet answered, staring at the screen before her.

After about five minutes, nothing changed. Aside from the speech tic Yao had, no other errors were found.

"Well, this is a good sign. There are no errors on your system." Viet said, smiling. She didn't want to tell him about the speech malfunction she caused.

"Oh...that's great-aru." Yao said, conjuring up a fake smile. However, his thoughts were close to a state of panic.

_'Impossible! If there are no errors, then what are with these feelings?'_ he thought, fingers drumming against the metal table. There had to be some other explanation, there just had to be!

"Yes, it's good that there's no damage to your system. Whoever must've owned you before took good care of you." Viet said, removing the wire and screwing the plate back in place. Yao's breath hitched in his throat.

"Er...yeah-aru. He sure did."

"Oh! I'm sorry! Did I bring up some bad memories?" Viet asked, realizing what she had just said.

"No...it's fine-aru." Yao replied, only making Viet give him a sympathetic look.

However, before the situation could get anymore awkward, Yong Soo entered the room.

"Good morning everyone-da ze!" Yong Soo greeted, waving.

"Hello, Yong Soo. How is everything?" Viet asked.

"Morning-aru." Yao greeted back.

"Everything is great-da ze!" Yong Soo said, doing a twirl and making Viet giggle.

"Someone is happy." she giggled.

"Of course-da ze!"

"Oh! By the way, are the others up yet?" Viet asked. Yong Soo only shook his head.

"No-da ze. They were still sleeping when I left the room."

"I guess I'll go get them. I'll be right back." Viet said, sighing. She walked out of the room, leaving both androids alone. Yong Soo took this opportunity to hop over to Yao and start telling him about his plan.

"Bro! I thought about the best plan last night! I thought of how to get Kaoru to fall in love with me!" the Korean unit told Yao, bouncing up and down.

"Alright-aru, what is it?"

"I can hire a gang and I can tell them to attack Kaoru, and then I can save him-da ze!"

"...What-aru?"

"Yeah, I know! Awesome plan, right-daze? Well, I guess that's not surprising, because awesome plans originated in Korea!" Yong Soo boasted, only earning a nervous chuckle from Yao.

_'That plan will kill Kaoru...or at least seriously injure him...'_ the Chinese unit thought.

"Um...how about another plan instead?" Yao suggested.

"What's wrong with my plan-da ze?" Yong Soo pouted.

"Well...Kaoru could get seriously damaged from it-aru..."

"But as long as I pay the gang, nothing bad will happen-da ze. Gangs listen to their employers."

"No-aru. They listen to themselves or their leader. Let's think of another plan-aru, you don't want Kaoru to get hurt, do you? We want a plan that we have complete control over."

"Like what-da ze?"

"Well...uh...maybe Kaoru can get lost somewhere and you can find him and guide Kaoru on a date that he doesn't know is a date and...yeah-aru." Yao said, mentally face palming.

_'Dammit, Yao! That is a retarded plan!_' he thought to himself.

"That sounds like a great plan-da ze!" Yong Soo replied.

Apparently, Yao and Yong Soo's definitions of the word 'retarded' were very different.

"Really-aru?"

"Yeah! You can take him shopping for...something and I can stalk you both and you can ditch him and then I'll save him and then-" Yong Soo was cut off by Yao.

"Woah-aru. Talk a little slower, you're talking too fast."

"AND THEN HE'LL LOVE ME!" Yong Soo shouted, finishing. A grin found its way onto the Korean unit's face.

"Alright-aru. We'll need to plan this out better though."

"Yeah, yeah. We'll do that sometime-da ze."

"Well, we should do it relatively soon-aru."

"It'll be fine, bro! We already have a basic plan-da ze!"

"Well, that's true-aru, but-" Yao was interrupted by Viet.

"We're back everyone!" she called, dragging Mei and Kaoru with her.

Behind the Vietnamese woman, Mei and Kaoru looked like they were still half asleep. Kaoru was blinking a lot and looking around the room, dazed. Mei, however, was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Hm? What's wrong-da ze? Your sleep mode is malfunctioning?" Yong Soo asked, noticing Kaoru and Mei were still tired.

"No. My functions are working just fine, thank you." Kaoru countered, now wide awake. Mei only nodded, rubbing her eyes.

"What he said." she replied.

"Okay, everyone, gather round! We need to talk about our next course of action." Viet announced, standing in the center of the room.

All at once, the androids crowded around Viet. Yong Soo dragged a chair over and sat down, once again trying to pull Kaoru on his lap, only to have the Chinese android avoid him and move toward Yao. Said Chinese android chose to stand along with Kaoru. Mei also dragged a chair, plopping down in it without a word.

"Alright, now that everyone is settled down, let's begin. So as you all know, a few weeks ago, we successfully destroyed two more branches of Europa." Viet began, taking a breath before continuing.

"Although we did make a dent in the organization, I feel as though we need to aim bigger."

"What do you mean by 'aiming bigger'?" Kaoru asked.

"Well, I meant we should go for a branch with a larger influence over the company." Viet replied, scratching her head nervously.

"You mean...no..." Kaoru said, eyes widening.

"Actually, I meant we should go for the English branch.." Viet said.

"What? Mas- I mean, Viet, please forgive me if this sounds...disrespectful, but the English branch will have an army of battle droids. There will be absolutely no way we'll be able to defeat the android army that branch is sure to have." Kaoru argued.

"Kaoru, that's not necessarily true. It is true, we do have smaller numbers, but, without the brains to back the brawn up, the army is useless. Believe me, wit is something Alfred F. Jones doesn't have much of." Viet countered.

"Wait, isn't Alfred F. Jones the leader of a whole sector of Europa-aru? What makes you think he isn't intelligent?" Yao questioned, puzzled.

"Well, you haven't seen some of the things he has said..." Viet replied, giggling quietly to herself. "If you ask me, he isn't really meant to be a leader of Europa...he has fine leadership skills, but he's childish. He's unfit to run a branch of Europa."

"Huh?" Yao said, tilting his head.

"The only reason he's leader is because his father was the leader before. Alfred F. Jones took over the branch at a relatively young age, like in his early twenties or something. He was unprepared for the responsibility, to say the least." Viet explained.

"So...how is he not dead already?" Mei queried.

"His androids. He probably asks them for help." Viet answered.

"So do you think that it'll be easier because he's an idiot?" Mei asked.

"No, Europa is paranoid now. The company is probably mass producing battle droids as we speak."

"But how will we kill Jones then?" Kaoru questioned.

"Ooh! Ooh! Will there be another banquet-da ze?" Yong Soo added.

"No, Yong Soo. There won't be any more banquets...like I said earlier, Europa is paranoid. They figured out last time that someone snuck in and assassinated Romano and Gilbert. So, it's only natural they they don't want anyone from the outside going near Mr. Jones. So, we'll have to sneak in." Viet answered.

"But how on earth are we going to sneak in? Their defenses are going to be difficult to break through." Kaoru countered.

"Maybe, but I have someone on the inside." Viet replied, winking.

"Hm? Who would that be?" Kaoru asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"My friend from school, Elizabeta."

"Oh..."

"Elizabeta will make us fake IDs and then bam! We'll be in. We just need to create some disguises for ourselves." Viet said.

"Do you have the IDs?" Mei asked.

"Nope! We have to wait until we get them in the mail!" Viet answered. Mei only sighed.

"Oh...alright."

"In the mean time, we can shop around for disguises! We'll need western like clothing." Viet said.

"We're in China-aru...will they even have Western clothing?"

"We'll never know unless we try! We shall start looking tomorrow! I can go with Mei and you guys can go together." Viet said, smiling.

"W-wait! Why do I have to go with him?" Kaoru asked, pointing at Yong Soo.

"Because you guys should get together?" Mei answered.

"No!" Kaoru argued.

"Yes, Kaoru. You need to stop denying your love for Yong Soo." Mei argued.

"There is none!"

While the two Chinese units were quarreling, Yao looked over at Yong Soo, who had a creepy grin on his face. The look slightly unnerved Yao. He quickly turned his attention back to the feud, seeing Viet was putting a stop to it.

"Now you two, quiet down. Mei, stop teasing Kaoru about having a crush on Yong Soo." Viet scolded.

"Thank y- wait! I don't have a crush on him." Kaoru protested.

"Now Kaoru, there is nothing wrong with being gay." Viet stated. "Your sexuality doesn't change who you are."

"Oh for the love of.." Kaoru pouted.

"See? Even Viet can see you love him!" Mei retorted, crossing her arms.

"Oh quiet, Mei." Kaoru huffed.

"Um...can we continue talking about our raid-aru?" Yao chimed in.

"Oh! I'm sorry everyone, I went way off topic." Viet apologized. "So, tomorrow, we'll all go shopping! And then we will find disguises."

"Shouldn't we just use our outfits from last time-aru?"

"Hm...no, if we did that, someone might remember us from the banquet in Rome." Viet answered.

"Shouldn't we wait for the IDs to come in before we get our outfits together-aru?"

"Well, Elizabeta said she sent them a week ago...so, they should come in pretty soon!"

"I should hope so-aru."

"Oh don't worry, Yao! You did great last time and everything will be just fine." Viet tried to reassure Yao, patting his shoulder.

"Thanks-aru." Yao said, unsure.

No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, Yao had an awful feeling something was going to go wrong.

Horribly wrong.

**And that is the end of this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! I will try to write and edit the next chapter as soon as possible, but I apologize in advance because the next chapter will probably take a while because of school and life in general. **

**Remember everyone: Reviews are always loved and appreciated, as are favorites and subscribers. They also feed my soul and light a fire under my butt so I write faster. **

**Anyway, I shall leave you all with that mental image! Have a wonderful day filled with pies and...cute animals...yeah. **

**Bye Bye~!**


	8. Chapter 7: A Misfire and Added Support

**Hello my people! How are you all? I hope all of your holidays went well. I was sick for most of mine but that gave me some time to write this chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, subscribed, and/or favorited! =) You guys always make me happy. **

**WARNINGS: Um...there will be some yaoi. **

**DISCLAIMER: I only own the fictional company of Europa. The characters, song that this story is based on, and fandom this story is based in are not owned by me. Meaning, I do not own Hetalia or Vocaloid.**

Chapter 7: A Misfire and Added Support

The next morning, Viet walked outside of the lab to check the mail. Instead of her usual, composed attire, she sported a green robe and her hair was down. Yawning, she walked over to the mailbox and opened it. She peered inside, seeing a manilla envelope. Curiously, she grabbed it, taking it out of the box and examining it. The Vietnamese woman pressed her ear to the mysterious package to make sure no ticking sounds were coming from the package. Hearing no noises, Viet shrugged and went back inside, bringing the package with her.

Once inside, she made her way to her desk, picking up a letter opener. With great care, Viet slowly opened the package and dumped the contents onto the desk. The package seemed to contain five laminated cards and a letter. Blinking, she picked up the letter and skimmed over it.

She gasped before snatching the contents of the package and running to wake up her androids. Once inside the room, she woke the androids up with a loud squeal.

"Everyone! The IDs have arrived!" she squealed.

However, her androids were less enthusiastic, being rudely woken up.

"Huh?" Yao said, blinking.

Yong Soo only groaned and covered his head with his pillow, while Mei and Kaoru sat up.

"Oh come on, everyone! Get up!" Viet said, bouncing.

Yao yawned before sitting up and stretching. He turned his head toward Viet, blinking.

"So, according to the letter Elizabeta sent, this one is for Kaoru, this one is for Mei...Yong Soo, Yao..and this one is mine!" Viet said, passing each ID out. "So... I am Bridgett Tucker...age twenty four and I am...English! What about you guys?"

"I'm Nancy Johnson and I am a twenty year old English woman." Mei read her ID, rubbing her eyes.

"Mason Keating, age twenty five. Englishman. Kaoru said, indifferent.

"Hey! I'm your brother-da ze!" Yong Soo said, grinning.

"Huh?" Kaoru questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"I'm Matthew Keating, your older brother-da ze! I'm twenty seven!"

"...Oh God..." Kaoru sighed, holding his head in his hands.

"I'm...William Jenkins-aru, a twenty five year old English man..." Yao said.

"Well, now that we have our IDs, we can begin to shop for our disguises!" Viet said, smiling.

Yao looked down at his card. This William Jenkins had short, black hair along with green eyes and glasses. From what Yao could tell, William was wearing a suit for his picture.

"But...What happened to these people? Are they dead?" Kaoru asked, examining his ID.

"Oh no, they're not dead! They just never existed." Viet answered.

"What do you mean?" the Chinese android replied.

"I mean they are completely fictional. They never existed." Viet explained. "Elizabeta used photoshop to create these people and we just need to play their roles."

"But...Europa has to preform background checks on their employees, right?"

"Well, Elizabeta has a very high influence in the organization, so...she recommended these people and...that's how we got in!"

"But that could put her in danger!" Mei protested.

"I'd rather not think about that." Viet mumbled, her sunny personality taking a nose drive for a moment.

Silence filled the room.

"Well, let's go shopping!" Viet said, going to go get ready.

When she left the room, Mei turned to Yao.

"Do you think Viet's okay?" Mei asked.

"I'm not sure-aru. She seemed...sad when you talked about her friend being in danger. I guess she doesn't want to think about any consequences that might befall her friends."

"I guess." Mei said, her voice laced with worry.

"Come on everyone, let's go get ready-da ze!" Yong Soo said, practically skipping out of the room. Yao and Kaoru sighed while Mei only giggled. The three remaining androids walked out of the room, going to get ready for their outing.

* * *

><p>About an hour later, everyone was ready for their shopping trip. Currently, everyone was in the lab, listening to Viet.<p>

"Alright, so we will be split into two groups. Mei and I will be one and Kaoru, Yong Soo, and Yao will be the other group." she stated.

"So...why do we have to be split up?" Kaoru questioned.

"So we won't feel awkward around each other!" Viet answered.

"But why would we-" Kaoru was interrupted by Viet.

"Because, we are girls and you are all boys. Do you guys want to see us get bras or something?"

"Wh-wha?" Kaoru stammered.

"Exactly. And that is why we are being split into two groups." Viet said, satisfied with her field of logic.

"Hmph." Kaoru said, crossing his arms.

"Now, here is about 3000 yuan.* You will have to split it among yourselves, so...split it evenly! I will also be giving you the communicators from last time. When you are all done, please come back here. You do know the address of the lab, right Yao?" Viet asked, handing the colored bills to Kaoru along with a communicator.

"Yes-aru." Yao answered, making Viet smile.

"Good! Now all I have to do is hand all of these out and we will be set!" Viet chirped, handing out the rest of the communicators.

She looked around the room, checking to make sure she didn't forget anything. She had handed out the communicators, the money was distributed, the IDs were handed out...what was she forgetting?

"Oh! I almost forgot about your arm, Yao!" Viet exclaimed, walking over to the Chinese unit. Slowly and gently, she removed the bandages covering Yao's arm.

After a couple of minutes, the bandages were completely removed. Yao flexed his fingers and looked over his arm. It was almost as if the limb had never been injured.

"There we go! Now we're ready to go!" Viet announced.

"Thank you-aru." Yao said, smiling.

"Of course!" Viet replied. "Well, let's go shopping!"

The Vietnamese woman practically skipped out the door, the androids following her. The group walked outside, and the trip began. The boys went one way, while the girls went the other way. As the trio of men walked down the streets toward some shops, Yao made sure to memorize every twist and turn so that he would be able to get back to the lab with no problem.

"Alright, so, we have 3000 yuan, so that means 1000 yuan for each of us. Lets distribute it among ourselves now." Kaoru said, handing out the money to his friends.

"Thanks-da ze!" Yong Soo said, grinning.

"Thank you-aru." Yao also said. "So, where are we going to first?" he added.

"Well, there's some shops up there, but we need some quality and cheap things..." Kaoru mused, observing the stores.

"Um...how about that store over there-da ze?" Yong Soo suggested, pointing toward an antique shop. Kaoru only shrugged.

"I guess it can't hurt to look." he sighed.

The three androids walked into the antique store, seeing no one at the counter.

"Alright, we'll search for anything that will be able to help us and then meet back here when we're done, alright?" Kaoru said, receiving nods from his friends. "Alright then, we're off." he said, walking away. Yong Soo only grinned before following Kaoru.

And so began the start of a long shopping spree.

About ten minutes into looking around the store, Yao found a suit that looked similar enough to the one William was wearing in the picture. He also managed to find a pair of glasses, so now all he had to find was a short, black wig and some attachments to make his eyes look green. Yao smiled. He was one step closer to breaking into another branch of Europa, which meant another chance at finding Kiku.

The Chinese android began to walk toward the front of the store, musing about his master once again. Yao hoped Kiku was unharmed, but if he was being held by Europa, then that possibility was unlikely. Europa would either use him for money or labor, two options that didn't sound appealing in the slightest.

Yao sighed again. He wanted to make sure Kiku was safe.

"Hey, bro!" someone called. Yao lifted his head, seeing none other then Yong Soo.

"Hey-aru. What's up?"

"Do you have most of the things for your costume-da ze?"

"Yeah, I just need to find a wig and some contacts. What about you-aru?"

"I have everything I need already-da ze!"

"Really? Wow, that was fast-aru."

"Yeah! So I was wondering...when we're done with this store...can we go through with the plan?"

"Hm?"

"You know, the plan where you pretend to get lost and I take Kaoru on a date that he doesn't know is a date-da ze."

"Haha, I know what you're talking about. I was just surprised you wanted to go through with it so fast-aru. Of course we can go through with the plan."

"Yes!" Yong Soo cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

"I just need to pay for my stuff-aru." Yao said, turning to the counter which was now occupied by an elderly man. While Yao was paying for his items, Kaoru walked back into the room, sighing.

"What's wrong-da ze?" Yong Soo asked.

"I couldn't find anything." Kaoru pouted, crossing his arms.

"Maybe you'll find something in another store." Yong Soo replied, smiling.

"...Yeah. Maybe."

"Are you both ready to go-aru?" Yao asked.

"Oh! I need to pay for my stuff-da ze!" Yong Soo said, stepping toward the counter and paying for his items.

After paying for their items, the three androids walked out of the shop. As they walked down the street, Yong Soo shot Yao a look, signaling the plan being put into motion. Nodding once, Yao slowly began to drift further and further behind until he couldn't see either of his friends. Once he was sure neither of his companions could see him, he smiled and turned to walk the other way. It was all up to Yong Soo now.

* * *

><p>Yong Soo and Kaoru continued walking, the smaller of the two not noticing Yao wasn't with them until they were both about five blocks along. Kaoru stopped, looking behind him. Not seeing Yao, he turned to the Korean unit to his left.<p>

"Yong Soo, we have a problem." he said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Hm? What is it-da ze?"

"You dumbass! Don't you notice anything wrong?" the Chinese unit hissed, pointing to the empty space behind them.

"Oh...Yao's gone-da ze."

"You seem calm about this." Kaoru said, glaring.

"He'll be fine-da ze." Yong Soo replied, brushing Kaoru off.

"...You are way too calm about this. Don't tell me this is planned."

"Huh? N-no! It's not planned at all-da ze! I just have confidence in Yao, that's all! He knows the way to the lab, right?"

"...You did plan this, didn't you?"

"No I didn't!"

"Yong Soo, tell me why you planned this, right now. There's no use denying it."

"Or what-da ze?"

"Or else I'll tell Viet and she will take away your soap operas."

"They're not soap operas! They're K-dramas!

"Whatever!" Kaoru replied, rolling his eyes. "Just tell me why you went through with this plan."

"...Look. I just wanted some alone time with you. At the lab, you always act like you hate me and you never even give me a chance to talk before you shoot me down. I thought that maybe if you spent sometime with me, then you wouldn't hate me so much."

"Who ever said I hated you?"

"What?"

"I do not hate you, and I have no idea where you got that idea from. The only reason I did that was because you were treating me like a piece of meat. You were too busy groping me and stating your claims over me that you didn't ask about _my_ opinion of things. Android or human, no being deserves to be treated as an object." Kaoru explained.

"O-oh...I didn't know you felt that way." Yong Soo whispered.

"Perhaps if you would have used a little more common sense, you would have."

"...I'm sorry."

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry for treating you like a piece of meat. It was wrong...I just saw that popular humans were usually...flamboyant. That's how it was on the TV. I thought if I was confident, then you would like me." Yong Soo confessed, ashamed of his earlier actions.

_'Now that's the android I fell in love with.'_ Kaoru thought, showing a rare smile.

"You know," Kaoru started. "You didn't need to orchestrate a plan to go on a date with me."

"Huh?"

"I would have gone out with you...if you asked in a dignified and respectful manner."

"Oh...well-" Yong Soo was interrupted by Kaoru.

"I know what you're going to ask, so don't finish that sentence. And the answer is yes, I will go on a date with you, but just this once! You'd better show me an extraordinary time!"

"Yes-da ze! Don't worry, I will! Let's start now!" Yong Soo beamed, grabbing Kaoru's hand.

"W-wait! We still need to get our disguises!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"We'll get our costumes, we'll just be going on a date at the same time!" Yong Soo said, smiling.

Kaoru didn't have time to say anything else as he was dragged away by the ecstatic Korean unit.

* * *

><p>Yao walked out of a store, his costume now completed. Shortly after he walked off, he found a store that sold accessories at a reasonable price. Not only did Yao find attachments for his eyes, but he also found a wig that looked similar to the picture on his ID. He smiled, now feeling accomplished.<p>

The Chinese unit began to walk down the street, over hearing a conversation a couple of women were having. He didn't pay any attention to the women until he heard one word: Europa.

Immediately, Yao's ears perked up as he automatically began to translate what the women were saying.

"What? Another murder in Europa?" a woman with short hair gasped.

"Yeah, it's been all over the news!" another woman with a long ponytail replied. "The leaders of the German and Italian branches were killed!"

"That's impossible! Europa has plenty of battle droids! They should squash any opposition against them!" the short haired woman said.

"But it's true! They were both killed and you remember the other killings, right?"

"Yeah, but...will they catch the killers soon?"

"I hope not." the long haired woman whispered.

"What? Lin, how could you say that?" the short haired woman gasped.

"What? You and I both know that Europa has taken over. It's about time someone stood up against them!" the long haired woman, known known as Lin hissed.

"They're above the law! How can the common people expect to fight them?" the other woman hissed, making sure no one was listening in. However, she didn't notice Yao as he inched closer. He pretended to be window shopping.

"Look in any history book, and you'll see plenty of stories about the common people rebelling! I'm telling you, that's what the world needs to do now!" Lin hissed back, only making her friend sigh.

"Lin, can we please not talk about this right now? This is giving me a headache."

"Ugh, fine. But I'm telling you, the public's unrest won't be contained forever."

Yao just stared after the two women as they walked off in the direction opposite of his destination, the lab. He started to walk toward the lab again, musing to himself.

_'So, it seems even the public is tired of Europa.'_ he thought. It seemed he witnessed the stirrings of a rebellion. However, it seemed only Lin was truly against Europa. If there were more people like her, then Europa would have a huge problem. One thing that slightly bothered Yao was that if there were other people like Lin, why hadn't they rebelled? Surely a large amount of people could take down one branch of Europa, right?

Then it hit him, the reason why no one was rebelling.

Fear.

_'Of course, everyone is so terrified of retaliation from Europa and having their loved ones taken away that they're paralyzed into submission.'_ he thought. But...how does one company do that to the world?

Yao only shook his head. The possibilities were endless and the situation was too complicated. If he were think about every reason Europa held control over the people, then he would be thinking about it all day and night. But still, what that conversation did tell him was that civil unrest was starting to stir.

They were gaining support.

He continued to walk for about an hour, trying to locate the lab. To his embarrassment, Yao got lost a couple of times. He forgot the earlier twists and turns he took to get to the shops. However, with some landmarks he remembered, he eventually found his way back.

When Yao entered the lab, he saw Mei and Viet had already finished their shopping. Currently, both women were talking about Yong Soo and Kaoru. Neither of them noticed Yao as he walked closer to them.

"Now Mei, I'm sure they'll get together someday." Viet reassured the Chinese android in front of her.

"But Kaoru is neck deep in denial! He's practically drowning in it!" Mei protested.

"Yong Soo will eventually make him come around." Viet said.

"But-oh crap! Hey Yao, how long were you all standing there?" Mei stammered, just noticing the other Chinese android.

"Um...just a few minutes-aru. But if you're worried about Kaoru and Yong Soo, they're not here."

"Where are they then?" Viet asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"...Probably on a date-aru."

An awkward silence filled the room. All three occupants in the room stared at each other, that is until Me broke the silence with a squeal.

"YES!" she cheered.

"Well, it's good that they're finally realizing their feelings for each other." Viet said, smiling.

"I hope they become a couple!" Mei squealed.

"Haha, I think we all do-aru." Yao said, chuckling.

Their hopes were only confirmed when Yong Soo and Kaoru returned a couple of hours later, holding hands. Both of them were smiling and laughing. They looked like the perfect couple.

Yao only smiled when he saw his two friends, glad that he helped match make them. He had never seen them so happy before. Even if he never had that bond with someone, he was happy for both of them.

He just hoped Europa wouldn't sever their bond.

***Just a little note about the Chinese currency, the Yuan. So I researched on Google a little bit and apparently one U.S Dollar is equal to about six Yuan. So, 3000 Yuan would be...500 dollars that each group got. I just wanted to make a note of it here to try to clear up any confusion anyone might have. **

**Anyway, that wraps up this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it and reviews, favorites, and subscriptions are always appreciated!**


	9. Chapter 8: In the Enemies' Abode

**Wow, it's been a little while since I've updated this story! But here's an update for you all! As always, thank you to the subscribers, reviewers, and the favoriters! I really appreciate the support! Now, there was one anonymous reviewer who left me a question, but since she doesn't have an account, I couldn't answer her question with a message! So, here's the answer, and I hope you see the answer, Alice! **

**So, you sign up for the website by clicking on a link in the upper right hand corner that says 'sign up'. From there, you just fill out the information and you have your account! Although I think you have to wait week before posting stories. Anyway, I hope my answer helped! Good luck on your writing :) **

**Hm...I really hope she sees this...how about this, if you don't have an account and you have a question, how about you shoot me an email? I'll give you the email in my profile, since the website won't let me do it here. The email will be under the part of my profile that says 'more general stuff about me'. This way, I can answer questions! **

**Well, that's enough of my note, on with the story! **

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, still don't own anything except for the concept of the fictional companies I made up.**

Chapter 8: In the Enemies' Abode

"So, is everyone ready to go?" Viet asked, looking at the androids before her. She held two suitcases in her hands, both containing items she would need for the trip to London.

"Ugh..." Yong Soo moaned, still tired. Everyone had to get up at seven in the morning again since it would take them at least ten hours to get to London. Needless to say, most of the androids shared the Korean unit's lack of sleep. Kaoru was struggling to keep his eyes open, drifting in and out of sleep. Mei yawned, still groggy while Yao just had a blank stare on his face, like he was completely out of it. Everyone in the room had their disguises on, no one looking like their usual selves.

Instead of his usual hanbok, Yong Soo now had a black tuxedo on, complete with a blonde wig. Mei had a red cocktail dress on, a black jacket draped over her figure. She also sported a short, red wig along with some glasses. Similar to Yong Soo, Kaoru also had a blonde wig on, along with a white tuxedo and some green eye attachments. Yao still had his disguise on, his short black wig, green eye attachments, and his suit. Lastly, Viet was wearing a long, blonde wig in a pony tail, sporting a white dress, a black trench coat covering most of it.

"Now Yong Soo, 'ugh' is not a good answer. The sooner we get to the plane, the sooner we will be able to sleep on board. Now, are you all ready to go?"

"Yes!" the androids replied in unison, making Viet smile.

"Good! Now come on, we have to get in the taxi outside." she said, already beginning to walk off. The androids followed suit, picking up their belongings and following their master outside.

As Yao walked followed behind everyone else, he saw another large cab, similar to the one the group first took to the airport when they went to Rome. The Chinese android yawned, listening in to a conversation Mei and Viet were having.

"So do we have to go through all of that awkward searching again?" Mei asked.

"Probably. But hopefully it'll be quicker this time." Viet replied. Mei only groaned.

"Dammit!" the Chinese android cursed.

"Mei!" Viet scolded. "Don't talk like that, it's not very becoming!"

"It's also not very becoming of Yong Soo to touch everyone's chest!" Mei sassed, pointing to the Korean unit who was trying to grope Kaoru once again.

"Yong Soo, stop trying to touch people." Viet sighed. "And Mei, stop being snappy."

"But I'm not being sna-"

"Mei, that's enough. We're in front of the cab." Viet interrupted, going around back and putting her bags in the trunk. "Everyone put your belongings in the back and then take a seat in the car." she said, already walking over to the passenger seat and entering the car.

"Do you think Viet is okay-aru?" Yao whispered to Mei as the androids put their things in the trunk.

"I'm not sure...she seems a little on edge today." the other Chinese unit replied, biting her lip. "I hope I didn't anger her."

"Don't worry-aru, you didn't do anything."

"Thanks, Yao. We'd both better get in the cab now, we don't want to be late for our flight." Mei said, smiling. Yao only nodded before both of them entered the cab in the back seat, Yong Soo and Kaoru entering shortly after.

Viet spoke to the driver in Mandarin, asking the driver to drive them to the airport while Yao looked out the window. As the car started up, the Chinese android began to day dream. He thought about many things, all relating to a tyrannic company. He thought of the German unit who sacrificed his life to try to stop him, about the Italian unit who fled to save his own hide, about the company that held so much influence over the world, and about the master he had lost.

Yao's thoughts turned back to the banquet in Rome, where he could have sworn he saw Kiku. Sure, he didn't get to see the young man's face, but Yao felt a certain vibe from him, like a connection of some kind.

The more Yao thought about how the brunette could've been Kiku, the more guilt he felt. Guilt for failing to protect his master and being unable to retrieve him.

Yao took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down before he got too worked up. He would find Kiku no matter what. He just needed to keep his thoughts rational and on task.

Yao looked out of the window, trying to keep his mind off of Kiku. He turned his attention to the empty streets, noticing there weren't many cars out. With no traffic to navigate through, the trip to the airport was taking less time then expected and within a few minutes, the cab came to a halt in front of the airport.

"Alright everyone, we're here! Now let's get our stuff!" Viet said, paying the driver and hopping out of the car.

"Oh, _xie xie_." Mei thanked the driver, only earning a smile and a nod in response. The female android stepped out of the car, going around to the back and removing her bags.

Once everyone's bags were removed, the group began to walk toward the airport, reaching the door in a couple of minutes. Viet pushed open the entrance, her androids following her. Once inside, the Vietnamese woman paused, scanning the crowd.

"Who are you looking for, master?" Kaoru asked.

"I'm looking for my friend, Elizabeta. She said she'd meet us in the airport, but I can't find her anywhere." Viet answered, not realizing that Kaoru called her master again.

"What does she look like, master?"

"She's about my height with long, brown hair and green eyes. I hope nothing happened to her." Viet said, biting her lip.

"Viet!" a voice called.

Viet's head snapped in the direction of the voice, squealing in delight when she saw who it was.

"Elizabeta!" she exclaimed, rushing over to give her friend a hug.

Yao only watched the scene in silence, weary of anyone from Europa. He wasn't sure if he could trust this Elizabeta, but she had helped them so far...but could this help be a way of gaining their trust? Yao honestly wasn't sure.

"Everyone, this is my friend Elizabeta." Viet said, having walked over to the group of androids. "This is Yao, Kaoru, Yong Soo, and Mei."

"Hello everyone, I'm Elizabeta Héderváry, nice to meet you all." the woman beside Viet introduced herself, doing a curtsy. She had long brown hair and beautiful emerald eyes, along with a radiant smile while her outfit consisted of a plain black dress that reached a little past knee length. Over her dress, she wore a button up cashmere sweatshirt, while her shoes were black heels.

She looked like she was going to a funeral.

Viet looked at her watch, gasping.

"Crap! We're going to be late!" she cursed, only for the Hungarian woman beside her to chuckle.

"Don't worry, Viet. You won't be flying with everyone else." Elizabeta said.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Europa always sends a representative with a private ride for new recruits." Elizabeta explained, smiling. "Here, I'll show you all to your ride. Follow me!"

Elizabeta practically skipped off, Viet and the others following her.

"So how has everything been?" Viet asked as she walked.

"Eh, it's been okay, but lately my superiors have been bugging me. They keep saying I should get more battle droids since leaders have been falling like flies, but Roderich is all the defense I need." Elizabeta replied, blowing some hair out of her face.

"You still have him?"

"Yep! I wouldn't trade him for the world. Not only is he a battle droid, but he can also play piano! Heck, I'd say he's up there with Mozart and Beethoven."

"He's that good?" Viet asked, bewildered.

"Yep! Roderich is a great guy." Elizabeta sighed.

"Heh, you sound like you have a crush on him." Viet joked.

"Oh I do not." Elizabeta denied.

"Um...pardon the interruption, but is that the plane we're taking?" Kaoru asked, pointing to a jet plane ahead.

"Yep! That's one of Europa's private jets. With this baby, we'll be in London in no time."

"I see." Kaoru replied. "So Europa has a whole fleet of these?"

"Yeah, Europa has everything. Now come on, let's all get on the jet!"

As the group approached the jet, they saw a young man dressed in aristocratic clothing. Upon closer inspection, Yao noticed the man had messy brown hair, violet eyes, glasses, and a dark trench coat. One of the man's more notable features was a mole on his face. Yao thought he looked like a fanboy of Mozart.

"Miss Héderváry, you've returned." the man said, bowing.

"Oh Roderich, I told you to call me Elizabeta. Why are you so formal?" Elizabeta sighed, crossing her arms.

"That's how I was programmed." Roderich replied.

_'So, that's her battle droid.'_ Yao thought, looking the other android over. He could see why the other members had been badgering Elizabeta to get more androids. Roderich didn't seem too strong. In fact, he seemed kinda lanky.

"Why do all Austrian units seem to be too formal?" Elizabeta sighed.

"Not sure, but it's better to be overly formal than rude." Viet shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Excuse me, Miss Héderváry, but may I ask who these people are?" Roderich asked.

"Hm? Oh, these are our new recruits!" Elizabeta replied, winking.

"So, they all have identities based on people you made up?"

"Exactly! Now come on, let's all get in!" Elizabeta said, leading the way into the jet. Roderich was the last to go in, closing the door behind him. As everyone got themselves situated, the Austrian unit made his way to the pilot's chair, sitting down in it and starting the engine.

In the other room, Elizabeta sat with the others, everyone crowding around a laptop screen as she gave them information on Alfred F. Jones.

"Alrighty, so if there is one thing everyone knows about Alfred F. Jones, it's the fact he's not really fit to run a branch of Europa. He's young, immature for his age, and especially prone to rushing into situations he cannot handle. Just to add some backing to my earlier statement, when the other leaders of Europa were killed, Alfred wanted all of the branches to unite in Britain so he could protect everyone." Elizabeta explained as she pulled up a picture of Alfred on her laptop.

Yao examined the picture, seeing that the Hungarian woman's words about Alfred's looks rang true. He had neat blonde hair with a single piece sticking out. The blonde locks were complimented by cerulean eyes which required the use of glasses. The blonde was wearing a plain dress shirt, along with a tie that looked like...the American flag?

"Now, Alfred's home country is the United States of America, so he doesn't quite know England as well as everyone thinks he does. Hell, he doesn't even do that much ground work, his battle droids do. With the rate Europa leaders have been dying, he probably won't be seeing anyone from outside the company anytime soon. He might not even see anyone else aside from his battle droids." Elizabeta continued.

"If you don't mind me asking, does he have a specific battle droid type he likes? Like a particular model?" Kaoru asked.

"A particular model? Hm...well he seems to like LON-4 units, as well as OTT-7 units, considering he only has those models." Elizabeta replied, scratching her head.

LON-4. Now that name caught Yao's attention. If his memory was correct, that unit was the last thing he saw when he was with Kiku. Could that mean that...

"Do you have any Japanese men at that branch of Europa?" Yao asked, turning to the Hungarian woman.

"Huh?"

"Do you have any Japanese men in the English branch of Europa?"

"Japanese men? Hm...not really, at least not to my knowledge. However, with all of the people coming in, it's possible there's at least one Japanese person in the branch."

_'Kiku could be there!'_ Yao thought as Elizabeta's words sunk in. If his memory was correct, then the unit who took Kiku could be at the English branch of Europa! Now Yao was eager to infiltrate the English branch.

He didn't even pay attention as Elizabeta talked more about the units in the English branch.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Roderich landed the plane, pulling the jet to a complete stop. They were now in the English branch of Europa.<p>

Yao looked out the window, seeing about twenty blonde figures lined up in two lines.

"Everyone, we have arrived in the English branch. Please be careful in making your way out of the jet. Also, please do not worry about your belongings, as the other androids will transport those to your quarters." Roderich said, stepping into the room where everyone else was. "Miss Héderváry, would you like me to help you off?"

"No, Roderich. It's fine." Elizabeta replied, showing a small smile.

"Would you like me to do anything else for you, Miss Héderváry?"

"How about stop being so formal?" Elizabeta teased.

"I'm sorry Miss Héderváry, I cannot complete that request."

"Oh Roderich, you're hopeless." Elizabeta sighed. "Come on everyone, let's get outside."

Elizabeta waited as Roderich opened the door and unlatched the stairs before stepping down, the others following her. Once again, he Austrian unit was the last to exit the jet, walking behind the group as they were greeted by twenty pairs of eyes. Upon closer inspection, Yao noticed the figures were battle droids, since they all looked similar, save for a couple of key features such as beauty marks. Elizabeta led the way as the group walked through the line of androids. Yao only tried to keep his eyes straight ahead, trying not to look at the throng of androids around him.

The group kept walking until they reached the end of the line, seeing a blonde man with green eyes and abnormally thick eyebrows. The unit had about a dozen units behind him, but Yao didn't pay any attention to them, being too focused on the unit in front of him. He could never forget that unit.

It was the unit that took Kiku from him.

Yao's fists clenched as he struggled not to grab the unit by the neck and interrogate him. He needed to be rational about this. This unit _could_ be completely different from the one who took Kiku, but then again, it _could_ also be the same one. He shook his head, disbanding the thoughts from his head. He had to wait and get more information before he made any moves. Yao didn't want to risk screwing up the mission and losing Kiku again.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the English branch of Europa. I am Arthur Kirkland, the head battle droid in the service of Mister Alfred F. Jones." the blonde unit said, introducing himself. "I assume you are our new members. Is that correct, Elizabeta?"

"Yes, Arthur. These are out new recruits. Could you get someone to show them all around?" Elizabeta asked.

"Of course. Feliciano, please show our new members around."

_'Feliciano? It couldn't be.'_ Yao thought.

To his horror, a brunette unit made his way through the dozen units behind Arthur, stopping and saluting with his left hand.

"I'm Feliciano Vargas, and I'll be giving you all a grand tour of the branch!" he said, flashing a smile.

It was only the first day in Europa, and they were already in danger.

**Translations:**

**Xie Xie- Thank you in Chinese **

**And a wild twist appears! Anyway, that's the end of this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you to everyone for the support with this story, you have all shined a ray of joy in my life filled with drama from school! **

**Have a super special awesome day everyone! Bonus points if you know what that line was a reference from. **


	10. Chapter 9: Cold As Ice

**Welcome everyone! Since it's Summer, I wrote another chapter for you all. Thank you to every one for reviewing, subscribing, favoriting, or just reading the story up to this point! Enjoy the chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, still don't own Hetalia.**

Chapter 9: Cold As Ice

_'This can't be happening...how could he be here of all places?'_ Yao inwardly panicked as he and the rest of his comrades were led down a long hallway. The Italian unit known as Feliciano Vargas was showing the group around the base, unknowing of the fact the "new recruits" were actually planning to annihilate the whole branch.

_'What if he recognizes me?'_ Yao thought, biting his lip. If Feliciano knew Yao was here, then the mission would be over. They could be captured and Yao would lose another opportunity to find Kiku.

Suddenly, Yao felt a light tab on his shoulder. The Chinese unit turned to face Mei, concern written all over her face.

_Are you alright?_ she mouthed, Yao only replying with a faux smile and a nod. He couldn't push his burden on others. Mei looked like she didn't believe Yao but she accepted his answer anyway, turning her attention forward.

"And this door leads to the lab." Feliciano said in a happy tone, snapping Yao out of his thoughts. "Here, we upgrade our battle droids with new weapons."

"Isn't that...illegal?" Viet asked.

"Yeah, but with all of the leaders dying, we need to boost our defenses." Feliciano replied, his chipper tone vanishing. "Believe me, I've seen what happens when a branch isn't prepared for an incoming attack. Anyway, why don't you all follow me and I'll show you the room?" he added, stepping through the door.

As he stepped through the door, Yao gasped at all of the mechanical contraptions in the room. This lab was about twice the size of Viet's lab, also having similar white walls and a marble floor. Silvery wires of all shapes and sizes were scattered about the floor, while bright lights covered the ceiling. About six computer monitors lined the left wall, while the opposite wall had a couple of desks, both covered in various papers. Several scientists were scattered about the room. Some of them were working on the computers, a couple more were examining diagrams, and the remaining ones were surrounding a table working on...something. Because of the scientists, Yao couldn't exactly see _what_ they were working on.

"Anyway, in the lab, we also fix our fallen androids. I'll show you all one that we've been working on." Feliciano stated, leading the group to the work table where the scientists were working. "Excuse me, may I see him?" Feliciano asked one of the scientists, referring to the android on the table. One of the scientists stopped her work, turning around and beginning to speak.

"We were wondering when you would show up. He never interacts with anyone unless you're here." she said.

"Oh...I see. Is he doing better?" Feliciano asked.

"We're doing all we can, and we did manage to stabilize his structure. He won't go falling apart again." the scientist replied.

"Excuse me, but...who are you both talking about?" Kaoru asked, butting into the conversation.

"Oh! Don't worry Mr..." Feliciano's voice trailed off.

"Keating. Mason Keating." Kaoru corrected. "These are my associates, Bridgett Tucker, Nancy Johnson, William Jenkins, and my brother, Matthew Keating." he introduced the group, pointing to each of them as he said their name.

"Oh...okay! Thank you!" Feliciano said, showing a small smile. "We're talking about the unit who's being worked on. He's a close friend of mine."

Yao looked over to the scientists, who were whispering among themselves. Slowly, the workers began to file out the door, leaving the group alone in the room. Yao quirked an eyebrow.

_'Why did they leave us here alone? Don't they have any concern about their files being duplicated by spies or something?'_ he thought, puzzled.

"And the- oh...they left! Now I can introduce you all to my friend!" Feliciano beamed, turning to the android on the table. Yao's breath hitched in his throat as he saw the face of the android.

"This is my friend, Ludwig! He's a German unit. We worked together a lot at our old branches." Feliciano said, introducing the other unit beside him.

_'How can he be here? I thought I killed him!'_ Yao thought, looking at the German unit before him. Ludwig was very different from the last time Yao saw him. Physically, the German unit looked disheveled. A line of metal stitches ran down the middle of his face, contrasting his pale skin. His blue eyes were now dull, losing most of their spark. The blonde also looked skinnier, as if the scientists working on him had built him wrong. Upon closer inspection, Yao even noticed that some of the artificial bones in Ludwig's body stuck out in un-natural ways, albeit just barely. An untrained eye wouldn't be able to notice that amount of detail.

He looked broken.

"Is he an older unit?" Yong Soo asked, observing the blonde before him.

"No, he's actually one of the newer German models. He actually protected the German branch leader. However, he was...severely injured, to say the least. When we found him, he was cut in half, straight down the middle." Feliciano swallowed as he continued. "Since the technology within this branch is so advanced, the scientists here did manage to mostly repair him, but he can't speak anymore and his motor skills are...unsatisfactory. He'll probably never fight again. The English branch agreed to repair him because they thought he might know something about the group who destroyed the Italian and German branches. However, because of the damage to his system, Ludwig hasn't been able to recall anything."

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend." Viet whispered, genuine concern lacing her voice.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Feliciano replied, taking Ludwig's hand in his own and rubbing small circles in the artificial limb with his thumbs. "Ludwig, it's me, Feliciano. Are you awake?"

Slowly, Ludwig began lift his head and turn his attention toward his friend, his eyes displaying a small blue spark, a sign of life.

"Oh good, you're awake! I wanted you to meet our new recruits! These people are going to help us find the criminals who destroyed our branches." Feliciano said, gesturing toward the group.

The blonde unit slowly turned his head toward the group, scanning everyone. When he saw Yao, he tilted his head, staring.

_'Oh God, what if he remembers me?'_ Yao thought, his mind in a panic.

"Hm? What's wrong, Ludwig? Why are you staring at Mr. Jenkins like that?" Feliciano asked, looking back and forth between the two men.

Slowly, Ludwig's stare became a cold glare as he lifted his arm up, pointing at Yao. He turned to Feliciano, jabbing his finger in Yao's direction, trying to tell his friend something.

"Ludwig, I don't get what you're trying to say." Feliciano said, puzzled.

Ludwig turned away, pointing toward a nearby notebook and pen.

"You...want me to get the notebook for you?" Feliciano asked, only receiving a nod in return from the German. The Italian unit walked over to a nearby desk, snatching the notebook and pen, bringing them over to Ludwig. The German unit took the notepad and pen from his friend, scribbling something down on it before handing it back to Feliciano. Once again, Ludwig gestured toward Yao, glaring.

"Oh, you want them to see your handwriting?" Feliciano asked. However, before he could see Ludwig frantically shaking his head, he showed the notepad to the group.

Yao tilted his head slightly, trying to make out the chicken scratch on the paper. Fortunately, the handwriting was illegible, so whatever Ludwig tried to write couldn't be deciphered.

Suddenly, the door opened as a female scientist stepped inside, speaking to the group.

"I'm sorry, but you will all have to leave now. We need to do more work on him." she informed them, referring to Ludwig.

"Oh...okay then." Feliciano said, handing the notepad back to his friend. However, before he could leave, Ludwig grabbed his arm, startling the Italian unit.

"Ludwig, what are you doing? I have to go." Feliciano said, trying to pull his arm out of the German's grip. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

The blonde didn't reply, only continuing to hold on until Feliciano pulled his hand away. With a bright smile, the Italian unit gave his friend a hug before turning to Yao and the others.

"I guess we should all get going, huh?" he said.

Quickly, everyone filed out of the room, Yao turning back to see one last, icy glare from Ludwig before exiting.

Once they were all outside, Feliciano began to speak again.

"Sorry we took so long in there." he apologized, a sheepish smile on his face. "Why don't we continue our tour?"

As they walked down the hall, Yao saw something out of the corner of his eye. It looked like a short man in a suit...with dark hair cut into a bowl haircut. He looked just like...

_'Kiku?' _

**Ooh, a cliffhanger and drama! I'm just putting Yao through emotional turmoil, aren't I? Oh well! **_  
><em>

**I'll try to get out the next chapter as soon as possible and remember, any support is appreciated! **

**Now if you'll all excuse me, I must go edit some Chinese phrases in past chapters because one of my lovely reviewers was kind enough to correct them for me. Thanks a bunch, Tudou! **


	11. Chapter 10: Follow the Sun

**First of all, I would like to apologize for taking so long with this update! Writer's block and college are both smacking me upside the head at this point in my life, but I'll try to update faster in the future. Once again, sorry for the long wait! **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia. If I owned Hetalia, there would never be any updates.**

Chapter 10: Follow the Sun

Yao paused for a moment, allowing his eyes to follow the man with the bowl hair cut.

_'Could it be?'_

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Yao took a deep breath and willed himself to follow the shorter man. Lost in his daze, he didn't notice Feliciano turn to give him a questioning look.

"Hm? Mr. Jenkins, where are you going?" the Italian unit asked, tilting his head to the side as he watched Yao turn a corner.

Yao didn't answer him, he only continued to walk until the shorter man stopped in front of an elevator.

After catching up to the shorter man, Yao grabbed his arm, swinging the younger man around. Startled, the young man gave a high pitched squeak as he dropped the papers he was holding.

Yao stared at the man for a moment, his hand almost crushing the man's arm in a vice like grip. He examined the man's face, finding that the man wasn't his long lost master. Kiku had brown eyes, a stark contrast to this man's green eyes. This man's complexion was also pale, much too light to match Kiku's complexion. The final difference between this man and Kiku lied in two screws on the side of this man's neck.

This man was an android, which meant he wasn't Kiku.

Loosening his grip, Yao let the other android's arm fall back to its owner's side. Stuttering, the android spoke.

"Uh- um...is th-there something I can he- help you with sir?" he said, obviously nervous. If androids possessed sweat pores, Yao imagined that the other android would be sweating through his clothing right now.

"No. I- you just looked like someone I once knew. An old friend." Yao replied, straitening his back. "I apologize for making you drop your belongings. Let me help you pick them up-aru."

"Oh, no, it's qu-quite alright sir. I can retrieve them myself." the other unit said, already bending down to pick up the fallen papers.

Despite the android's protest, Yao helped him pick up the papers. After all, it was his fault that the papers were on the floor, why shouldn't he help pick them up? From what he saw, most of the papers featured graphs and stocks, probably some reports on weapons sales or something like that.

Yao continued to idly retrieve the papers until he saw a sheet with what looked like a list of network servers on it. Glancing up to make sure the other android was occupied, Yao quickly folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket.

After retrieving the rest of the sheets, Yao stood up, the other unit rising soon after.

"I believe these are yours." Yao said, handing the papers to the shorter unit.

"Th-thank you so much!" the other unit stammered, quickly bowing before rushing into the elevator. Before the door closed, the android turned to Yao one last time, giving him a warm smile before the door closed.

Although the other unit didn't see it, Yao's face mirrored the happy expression. It always felt nice to help others, and Yao might have even gotten a new lead for his kindness.

"Oh! There you are, Mr. Jenkins!" a voice called, followed by the sound of foot steps.

Yao turned around, only to come face to face with Feliciano.

"Oh, he-hello-aru." Yao stammered.

"Hi there! Was something wrong? You kinda just...wandered off." Feliciano said, concern in his voice.

"Huh? Oh, no! I'm alright, thank you. That man...just looked like someone I knew." Yao said, trying to brush off the loaded question. The last thing he needed was letting anyone know about Kiku.

"Would you like our branch to conduct a search on the person? With our technology, we'll be able to find them." Feliciano suggested.

_'Is he trying to lure me?' _Yao thought. He knew he shouldn't reveal his ulterior motive, but he wanted to find Kiku. He wanted to be reunited with him. He wanted to be close to him again. He wanted to know he was _safe._ He quickly weighed his options, the pros and cons. If he gave Feliciano Kiku's name, then yes, Kiku would be found faster. However, if Kiku was in the company, then that would tip off the rest of the company to Yao's relation to him. If he told Feliciano about Kiku, Yao would open a can of worms that would be very difficult to close.

But if Yao didn't give Feliciano Kiku's name, then Kiku might never be-

'_No.' _Yao thought. _'I won't think like that. I will find him.' _

"There's no need to do that. He's already dead." Yao lied.

"Oh...I'm so sorry." Feliciano said.

"No, it's fine. Now how about we finish the tour?" Yao asked.

"Of course!" Feliciano said, turning on his heel and leading Yao back to the group.

Looking at the unit in front of him, Yao made two mental notes.

One, watch out for Ludwig.

Two, Feliciano was now a threat. He seemed smarter than he looked, and to underestimate him would be a grave error.

* * *

><p>A couple hours later, Yao sat in his new room, provided by Europa. The room had plain, white walls adorned with one painting of sunflowers and a metallic clock. There was a desk in the far left corner of the room with a small lamp and various papers scattered about it. Next to the desk was a simple, metallic bookshelf filled with numerous novels and magazines. In the far right side of the room was a painting of a woman in Victorian clothing. Yao thought both paintings looked out of place in the futuristic room.<p>

Of course, the room also had a bed and a door to what Yao assumed was a built in bathroom. He sighed and laid in his bed, trying to sort out his thoughts and his objectives.

First, name objectives.

One, find Kiku if he was here. Two, destroy the branch. Three, live to see another day.

The goals seemed simple enough, but the more Yao thought about them, the more he worried about the opposition he faced. Feliciano and Ludwig were here, and Yao knew those two were threats and to make matters worse, Yao needed to operate under the false guise of 'William Jenkins'. It was only the first day, and he already felt like the guise was slowly suffocating him.

'_It's exhausting pretending to be nice to these people.' _Yao thought, remembering the tactics Europa sunk to get their workers. After seeing the same unit from five years ago, there was no doubt in Yao's mind that Europa was also responsible for Kiku's kidnapping. If he knew where Kiku was held he would just-

The sound of footsteps in the hallway snapped Yao out of his thoughts. He sprung up on his bed, looking toward the door and listening.

The footsteps were light, moving about the tiled floor outside with soft clicks.

'_Heels? No...they could be dress shoes too...' _Yao thought, trying to identify the person in the hall. If it was a member of Europa, he would have to act like the fake persona forced onto him. If it was an ally, then he was safe.

The footsteps stopped and Yao's door opened, revealing the woman who now called herself 'Nancy Johnson'.

"Hello, William, may I come in?" she asked, wearing an innocent smile.

"Oh...of course. Come on in." Yao said, making room for Mei on his bed.

"Thank you."

Mei walked over to Yao's bed, sitting down on it and smiling. Yao could've sworn he saw her eyes flash red.

"How are you adjusting to our new life?" Mei asked, reaching into her pocket to produce a single sheet of paper and a pen.

"Um..okay, I guess-aru. It's a lot to take in at once." Yao honestly replied. He wasn't used to the atmosphere in Europa, a suffocating air that kept both workers and androids on their toes. He felt as though at any moment someone would burst through the door and blow his cover.

"I agree, it is a lot to take in. However I know that we'll both be just fine. We're smart, and there was a special reason that we were both chosen." Mei replied, scribbling something on the paper in front of her. After she finished her statement, she handed the paper and pen over to Yao.

Slowly, Yao read the contents of the paper.

**This room is bugged. There are wire taps, but no cameras. We have to continue talking about mundane things while we carry on the real conversation here. **

Yao gave a quick nod, hoping that Mei got the message. Then, he continued to speak.

"Yeah, I guess so-aru. But at least everyone here seems nice." he gave a shrug before scribbling a reply on the piece of paper. "What do you think they'll have us doing first?" Finishing his statement, he passed the paper to Mei.

**Very well. Is there anything new regarding the mission? **

Mei tsked before replying, writing another reply on the paper.

"Ha, they'll probably have us doing paper work. After all, they can't really give the big jobs to the new recruits, huh?" she said, passing the paper back to Yao.

**Not yet. We didn't exactly get a chance to explore because we were tethered to Feliciano all day. Did you find anything new? You walked off somewhere for a moment on the tour. **

Yao read the paper, already working on his written reply.

"Heh, I guess not-aru. I just hope the paper work isn't too boring. I always hated paper work during my schooling." he said, finishing his reply and handing it back to Mei.

**I retrieved a sheet of servers. I plan to hack into them to see if there's any info we can use for our mission. I just need to wait for a chance. **

"Well, it's not too hard to dislike paper work. After all, who would want to sit in a cubicle all day?" Mei replied, writing more on the paper. After finishing, she held up the paper to Yao.

**That's great! Tell us if there's anything we can do to assist you. The servers may hold some useful information. However, I also wanted to ask if you were okay. You seemed kinda dazed when you walked off. **

Mei gave him a concerned look and Yao nodded, taking the piece of paper from Mei and quickly writing a response, returning the sheet when he was done.

"True, well, I guess we'll see what Europa has for us tomorrow, huh?" he said, adding on to the mundane conversation he and Mei were having. Mei read the paper.

**I'm fine. Just reminded of a few bad memories, that's all. Don't worry about me. **

Mei only reached out, taking Yao's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

_'Everything will be alright.' _she mouthed, giving a small smile. Yao returned the smile, also giving Mei a squeeze back.

"Yes, I suppose we will." Mei said. "I guess I'd better let you go before we stay up all night, huh? I don't want you to be too tired for the work we'll have tomorrow."

Mei then stood up, letting go of Yao and plucking the paper from his hand before stuffing it in her pocket.

"I guess so-aru. It was nice talking to you though, see you tomorrow." Yao said, standing up and walking Mei to the door.

"Like wise. See you tomorrow." Mei said, smiling before leaving. Yao closed the door behind her, leaning up against it and sighing. There was no going back now. He was here, in Europa trying to complete a mission that had a high chance of failing.

After all, how could a handful of people bring down one of Europa's core branches?

He took out the list of servers from his pocket, unfolding it and scanning the surface. Would this single clue lead him to Kiku? Could he really find his old master while running from a tyrannical company? He wasn't sure anymore.

Yao wished for the old days, when he and Kiku were still together. Before the death of his parents, before Europa rose to power. Things seemed so much simpler back then. Yao didn't have to worry about a company that had the authorities under its thumb. He didn't have to walk on egg shells in fear of being killed.

No, back then, his biggest worry was keeping Kiku safe.

"I guess I failed at doing that." Yao mused, sliding down to sit on the ground. He sat there for a moment, trying to process the situation he was in, but no matter how much he thought about it or tried to rationalize it, it just sounded like something out of a novel, a dream someone came up with.

Yao looked at the paper again, trying to make sense of the complicated looking mix of numbers and letters on it. Something had urged him to take this paper, something inside him told him this sheet of paper was important. As he stared at the paper, Yao made a resolution.

In a week's time, he would see where the paper led him.

Folding the paper and placing it back in his pocket, Yao stood up from the ground, making his way over to the bed to attempt to sleep in preparation for the day ahead.

**And that wraps up another chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. **

**Remember, any feedback is appreciated!**


End file.
